The Sudurnes police department on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland is currently investigating recent arsons in the jurisdiction, suspecting that an arsonist is on the loose. No one had been arrested because of the arsons yesterday.
The photo is not directly related to the story. By Geir Ólafsson.
So far this year, four arsons have been confirmed at the police department, Morgunbladid reports.
On the evening of New Year’s Day an old military barrack at Ásbrú in Reykjanesbaer (the old NATO base) was set on fire and close to midnight the same day a carpenter’s workshop on Hafnarbraut in Njardvík was set on fire.
The military barrack was the last of its kind in the old NATO base and there was discussion of relocating it to a museum.
Yesterday evening someone started a fire in a trash container in Gardur and later in the night another trash container outside an apartment complex in Ásbrú was also set on fire.
Had the fire spread to the buildings by which the containers stood, the lives of the people living there would have been in danger.
The old wooden church in Krýsuvík was destroyed in a fire in the night of January 1. It has not been confirmed that it was a case of arson but it is strongly suspected since there was no electricity in the church. The investigation is ongoing.
Superintendent in Sudurnes Jóhannes Jensson said 56 cases of fire were reported to the police last year, of which 25 cases are believed to be arsons and are being investigated as such.
Click here to read more about the church fire.
