COPENHAGEN, April 16, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A huge fire on Tuesday devastated 
Copenhagen's 17th-century former stock exchange, toppling the historic 
building's landmark spire in front of horrified witnesses.

The 54-metre (180-foot) spire disappeared into flames at the Borsen building, 
which had been undergoing renovation, an AFP journalist saw.

"This is our Notre-Dame! This is a national treasure," emotional local 
resident, 45-year-old Elisabeth Moltke, told AFP as she watched the blaze.

"A lot of old Danish paintings, originals are in there. I've been in there 
several times and it's a magnificent building so it makes me feel very 
emotional."

The fire started at around 7:30 am local time (0530 GMT) under the red-brick 
building's copper roof, emergency services told reporters, as more than a 
hundred firefighters were dispatched to the scene. 

The spire snapped and crashed down onto the street below. Dramatic 
photographs showed orange flames and huge plumes of black smoke billowing 
from the rooftop.

Fire trucks surrounded the building, covered in scaffolding and wrapped in 
tarp and which today houses the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

It lies just a stone's throw from the country's Parliament and seat of 
government Christiansborg.

- Hard to reach -

"It's a copper roof, and it's simply impossible to get under that roof, so 
the fire has plenty of time to build intensity," Jakob Vedsted Andersen, 
director of emergency services, told news agency Ritzau, adding that the fire 
had spread down into the building.

The Borsen building, commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 
and 1640, is one of Copenhagen's oldest and best known landmarks.

Housing a vast art collection, it was being renovated to celebrate its 400th 
anniversary.

"Terrifying images from Borsen this morning. 400 years of Danish cultural 
heritage going up in flames," Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt wrote in a 
post on X, formerly Twitter.

The images recalled the disaster at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, almost 
five years ago to the day it was gutted by a fire.

Onlookers could not hold back tears as they watched the devastation.

"I'm lost for words... It's a 400-year-old building that has survived all the 
other fires that burned Copenhagen down to the ground," said Carsten 
Lundberg, an employee at the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

"It's a dreadful loss," Lundberg told AFP adding that what was inside were 
"things that you cannot put a price on... Priceless paintings, statues..."

- Rushing to save art -

Engel-Schmidt said he had been moved to see employees, rescue workers and 
residents working to "rescue art treasures and iconic paintings from the 
burning building."

Images from the scene showed several people rescuing works of art, including 
a painting of the building.

Forces from the Danish military were also called to the scene, in particular 
to try to evacuate artworks.

"We are currently working hard to save our historical art from Borsen," the 
Chamber of Commerce said in a post to X.

Police said they had blocked off parts of the city centre as part of the 
fire-fighting efforts.