Vimpeli sports hall destroyed in fire – A woman inside witnessed a horrific sight: “It was full of black smoke”

The Vimpeli sports hall was destroyed in a massive fire on Monday afternoon. The hall is an essential part of Vimpeli Betting’s operations, both for the women’s Basketball League and the men’s SuperPesis.

The hall is also extremely important for juniors in various sports and fitness enthusiasts. A woman who was in the hall’s weight room at the time of the incident spoke about her harrowing experience, speaking anonymously.

– I was in the weight room with headphones on, I didn’t hear the fire alarm. I only woke up when I smelled smoke. I first sniffed through the window to see if the smoke was coming from outside, but it wasn’t. Then I opened the door to the gym, it was full of black smoke and the sprinklers were on.

The story continues after the picture.

The story continues after the picture.

The woman acted quickly after opening the door.

– My only thought was to leave the building quickly and luckily I succeeded.

Vimpelin Veto’s superbase team catcher Matias Rinta-aho watched the fire with sadness.

– This is terrible, a shock to the entire municipality. The sports hall is a very familiar place to me over the years. Now it is being razed to the ground. The hall is incredibly important to many people. It is hard to even think about this.

The story continues after the picture.

The story continues after the picture.

The fire also has a tangible impact on the summer routine of the Vedas team.

– We use the weight room every day. Now that’s a thing of the past. Now we have to think about where to do those workouts. There’s no similar place in Vimpeli. It’s probably going to be in a neighboring municipality.

Dark thoughts

Vimpeli Mayor Sam Leijonanmieli was, like everyone else, dismayed.

– A truly sad event. Fortunately, there were no injuries. When the fire started, we quickly shut down the air conditioning in the school building right next door to prevent smoke damage there. Now we just need to give the investigators some time to figure out the cause of the fire.

Regarding the cause of the fire, a dark thought was floating in the minds of the local residents who followed the fire.

– Since the fire broke out so violently during the day, it seems strange. I hope it is not revealed to be intentional, mused a man who was watching the fire.

The insurance of the hall owned by the municipality of Vimpeli is in good condition.

– That’s a good thing here. However, I can’t yet estimate what kind of sums we’re talking about. Over the past two years, the hall alone has been renovated for around 300,000 euros, Leijonanmieli states.

Vimpeli Municipality’s leisure secretary Ari Takala watched the fire in disbelief.

– It was hard to believe when I heard that the hall was on fire. Unfortunately, it was true. This is a complete shock to the residents, as the hall, built in the early 1990s, is a big piece of history. This is a huge setback for many sports, especially basketball and baseball. The same goes for fitness enthusiasts, as there was a weight room and a squash room there.