Sweden's Ice Hotel told to get fire alarms [View all]

[The Straight Story]

Sweden's Ice Hotel has been ordered by the National Housing Board to install fire alarms, despite being made completely out of frozen water.

The Ice Hotel, which is rebuilt every year in northern Sweden out of enormous chunks of ice from the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, will this year come equipped with fire alarms - and the irony isn't lost on the staff.

"We were a little surprised when we found out," hotel spokeswoman Beatrice Karlsson told The Local.

"But we do understand. Safety is a primary concern for us. There are indeed things that can catch fire, like the reindeer skins, the mattresses, and the pillows."

While it might sound crazy that a building made of water needs to be equipped with fire alarms, the fact that the hotel is built from scratch every year means it needs to abide by the rules that apply to every new building, rules set by the National Housing Board (Boverket).


http://www.thelocal.se/20131114/swedens-ice-hotel-in-jukkasjarvi-kiruna-told-to-get-fire-alarms