Reykjavik police probe rubbish-store fire, 85 incidents logged overnight, arson suspicion stands out

• RÚV reports that police are investigating a fire in a rubbish storage area as possible arson.
• The capital region police logged 85 incidents from 5pm to 5am; three people were held in custody by morning.
• A driver was stopped at 112 km/h in a 50 km/h zone and lost his licence temporarily.
• Two grill fires were also reported, with little or no damage.

Police in Iceland’s capital region are investigating whether a fire in a rubbish storage area was deliberately set after 85 incidents reached officers’ desks between 5pm on Wednesday and 5am on Thursday. In its morning police bulletin, RÚV reports that the rubbish-store fire is being treated as a possible arson case.

The same bulletin lists the usual spread of overnight work: three people in custody by early morning, a motorist stopped at 112 km/h where the limit was 50, another driver caught using studded tyres well after the legal season ended, and two reports of fires in barbecue grills that caused little or no damage. The speeding case brought an immediate temporary licence suspension. The suspected arson case brought something else: an investigation into intent.

That distinction matters in residential areas, where a fire in a rubbish room or storage space can move quickly from minor property damage to smoke spread, evacuation and damage to adjoining buildings. Police have not, in the material published so far, said whether anyone has been identified as a suspect or whether forensic findings point clearly to deliberate ignition. What they have said is narrower and more useful: the fire is not being filed away as an accident.

Daily police logs are full of noise. Most entries end as traffic enforcement, minor disorder or incidents with little visible damage. A suspected deliberate fire inside a shared building area belongs to a different category because the cost does not stop at the burned bin or scorched wall. It brings insurance claims, clean-up, repairs, possible security upgrades and, if residents were put at risk, a larger criminal inquiry than the short morning bulletin suggests.

For readers trying to place the case, the immediate question is not the 85-incident total but whether this fire fits a broader run of deliberate blazes in apartment blocks or communal storage areas. RÚV’s report does not answer that, and Icelandic police bulletins rarely do. The public record at this stage is one suspected arson case in a rubbish storage area, logged among speeding, tyre violations and grill fires.

The driver stopped at 112 km/h lost his licence on the spot. The rubbish-store fire remains open as a suspected arson investigation.

Källor: RÚV