ENTRY DESCRIPTION
On the 16th of April, Denmarks 400 year old building Børsen burnt down during restoration work. Danes on their daily commute rushed in as the fire raged, saving artworks and other irreplaceable items from the inferno. Firefighters found it incredibly hard to subdue the flames, as scaffolding encased much of the outside. The spire - itself a truly impressive work - then crumbled in terrific style, as onlookers gasped.

The fire took days to fully extinguish, as metal workers hurriedly welded large support beams and frames to containers filled with concrete. Often, progress halted as the fire began again - cue the sounds of sirens, and the arrival of groups of exhausted firemen.

I had front row tickets to these events, and was able to take a huge amount of photographs on those first days. I went up in lifts, and then a cage lifted by a crane (when it was safe enough). This photo is from when most of the rubble had been removed - two weeks from when the fire had ended. It shows clearly the scale of the destruction, with the looming spire of Christiansborg palace in the background.

How the fire started, how much can exactly be saved, and how much this will all cost remains to be seen.

AUTHOR
Street photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. 13 years of taking photographs of people and daily life.

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