World’s tallest log cabin destroyed by fire in North Russia

The Sutyagin House, once the world’s tallest wooden house, was destroyed by fire in Arkhangelsk in Russia’s far northwest on Saturday night, the regional emergencies department reported on Sunday. The fire started at a nearby bath house and spread to the wooden skyscraper, completely destroying the lob cabin within several hours. “Strong winds spread the fire to the wooden skyscraper and completely engulfed it,” the emergencies department said. The 13-storey, 144-foot-tall wooden residence was built by local entrepreneur Nikolai Sutyagin in 1992 without any construction permit and was reportedly the world’s tallest wooden building. In the late 1990s, the house construction was suspended after Sutyagin was sentenced to several years in prison for racketeering and was restarted after he served his prison term. The Sutyagin House has once been recognized a sensation of the year at a conference on Wooden House Construction in Northern Russian Towns. In 2008 the local authorities recognized the wooden skyscraper as a fire hazard and ordered it to be destroyed. In late 2008, the wooden tower was pulled down, leaving four stories intact.