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full screen The rescue service and the police on site in Vittskövle church to fight the fire. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
A medieval church in Scania’s Vittskövle caught fire on Wednesday evening.
– There is residual damage and extensive cleaning is needed, says Anders Pålsson, officer on duty at the rescue service.
The fire was discovered by a private person, and the emergency services were alerted at 17.40 to Vittskövle, which is located approximately three kilometers south of Kristianstad.
– There has been a fire in a space of around ten square meters in the entrance, the armory. There is fire damage, says Pålsson.
The fire service assesses the fire as extensive. The rest of the church has suffered from smoke and soot damage.
The fire could be extinguished just after 6 pm after the emergency services broke into the church. There is no information about any specific damage, but the church contains, among other things, unique paintings, according to Dan Olsson, parish priest in Degeberga Everöd parish.
– These are irreplaceable things we have to deal with, he says to Kristianstadsbladet.
The oldest parts of the church were built in the late 12th century or early 13th century, the Church of Sweden writes on its website.