A call was made to the emergency services at 8.04 a.m. concerning a three-storey house on fire, the alarm center told ERR.

When the emergency services arrived the flames were coming out of the windows of the house and the fire had spread to the roof. People were evacuated through the windows. A man was found dead in a burned-out apartment on the first floor at 8:59 a.m.

In total 15 people were evacuated and 12 were taken to hospital for a check-up.

As a lot of smoke is spreading from the house fire the Rescue Board is asking residents of Pebre, Õle and Timuti streets to close their windows and doors and to turn off ventilation.

Smoke also spread to the classrooms of nearby Kalamaja Elementary School (Kalamaja põhikool). School principal Piret Rõõmussaar told ERR the children were taken to the other side of the school, where there was less smoke. Rõõmussaar said that the smoke dissipated in 10-15 minutes. However, some children complained of headaches, after which a school medical officer called an ambulance and the children were taken to hospital for medical examinations.

Raul Adlas, the head of Tallinn Ambulance, told ERR 11 children were taken to the children's hospital. However, according to him, it cannot be confirmed at the moment that it was caused by smoke from the Pebre Street fire.

At 10:23 a.m., the rescue board said smoke was no longer a threat to people in the surrounding area, although the fire is not yet completely extinguished.

A spokesman for the Northern Rescue Center said that at the peak of the fire, almost all of Tallinn's rescue resources were working on extinguishing it. 

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