The apartment building that caught fire in Luleå on Friday evening could not be saved. Beatrice Torneus is one of those who lost everything in the fire when she was forced to flee her home.
– You wouldn’t wish this on your worst enemy. It’s terrible. All the memories, the pictures of the children, everything is gone, she says.
It was on Friday evening that the emergency services received the alarm about the fire in the apartment building on Hertsön in Luleå. At 8:45 p.m., the attic of the property was fully engulfed in flames, and until midnight firefighters struggled to put it out.
But the house could not be saved.
Beatrice Torneus had just changed into her pajamas when the neighbor knocked on the door and said in a panic that they had to leave the house.
– I went outside and looked up at the ceiling and saw that there was only smoke billowing out. I panicked and ran back into the apartment. I thought I wanted to save as much as possible, she says.
She got a pair of shoes, a pair of panties and the one son’s computer with her.
Difficult to put into words the feelings
She has difficulty putting into words what she has been through. She is most saddened by the photographs of the children, the keepsakes and heirlooms that were consumed by the fire – priceless things that cannot be replaced.
– It is difficult to explain the feeling because there is so much that moves inside you when you see your whole life disappear. It is very difficult to put it into words, but it is despair, emptiness, sadness, fear and worry. It is overwhelming and terrible, she says.
14 apartments were destroyed
Rickard Lindbäck, property manager at Lulebo who owns the affected house, says SVT Norrbotten that all of the house’s 14 apartments were destroyed. Between 30 and 40 people are now said to be without a home.
Beatrice and her family have been allocated temporary accommodation over the weekend.
– Lulebo has arranged for us to have accommodation at least until Monday, then we’ll see what will happen, she says.
No one was injured in connection with the fire. The police have now drawn up a report of gross public negligence.