Woman sentenced to prison for starting fire in Svalbard

Fire trucks under emergency.Photo: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX

A woman in the 20s has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison for having started a fire that could have killed 15 people in a terraced house in Longyearbyen last year.

Nord-Troms District Court concluded that there was a real risk of loss of human life, writes newspaper Nordlys.

The woman was charged with having thrown gasoline over a foam rubber mattress and having burned it in a staircase, in a terraced house on March 20 last year. When she walked out of the basement, the flames stood high up under the roof. She had been drinking large amounts of alcohol and combined it with amphetamines, the newspaper said.

A total of 15 residents were home when the fire broke out. The local fire chief writes in his report that the residents could have died within an hour if the fire had spread.

The woman must also pay the farm owner 2.200 kroner in damages. 94 days will be deducted from the prison sentence for time spent in custody.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today