In Finland, lightning struck an Orthodox church during a wedding ceremony

In the Finnish city of Tampere, a lightning strike caused a serious incident at the Orthodox Church of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Nicholas. To prevent the fire from spreading, firefighters had to resort to drastic measures and temporarily remove the cross from the building’s main dome. Yle reports this on .

The incident occurred on July 18 while services were being held at the church, including wedding and baptism ceremonies. The powerful electrical discharge damaged the building’s fire alarm system and electrical wiring. Initially, emergency responders found no visible signs of fire, but later, passersby noticed smoke coming from the base of the cross. It turned out that the lightning strike had caused hidden smoldering in the wooden structures inside the dome.

About twenty fire and rescue crews arrived on the scene to eliminate the threat. The specialists’ work, complicated by an ongoing thunderstorm, required the use of a heavy-duty truck-mounted crane, which was used to remove the cross, allowing firefighters to open up part of the roof and extinguish the smoldering structures. By the morning of July 19, the fire had been completely extinguished; there were no injuries.

Background: The Church of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Nicholas, built in the late 19th century, is a significant architectural landmark in Tampere. Experts are currently inspecting the building’s load-bearing structures to assess the damage and plan further restoration work to return the cross to its historic location.