Pedestrians came to the rescue
From the scene last night. Photo/Fire Department of Skagafjarðar
It was a blessing that things did not go worse when a a chicken coop in Sauðárkrókur caught fire last night just after midnight.
The chicken coop sustained some damage, and four hens were killed out of the eight hens that were in the coop. The coop is located alongside a wooden verandah and an apartment building where the occupants were sleeping. The apartment building is in a wooden house.
Everything could have caught fire
The residents were fortunate, in fact, that people were out and about near the house after midnight. Pedestrians spotted the fire and woke up the residents. The owner of the house tried to use the garden hose to put out the fire until the Fire brigade came on the scene and finished the job.
Svavar Atli Birgisson, the fire chief in Skagafjörður, told mbl.is that conditions were favourable in terms of wind.
The cause of the fire not known
“If the conditions had been just a little worse, the fire could have gone to the verandah and then to the house. For example, if there had been more wind and also if no one had been walking out that late,” Birgisson says also mentioning that “there was a considerable amount of fog in Saudarkrókur, and evidence of fire would not have been apparent from a distance.
It is not yet known what caused the fire, but a failure in the lighting system is considered the most likely cause.
