Messukylän School Celebrates 140th, Recalls 1898 Well Rescue and 1927 Roof Blaze

According to Aamulehti, local historian Juha Javanainen has combed municipal records and newspaper archives to assemble the school's colourful history. He notes the first wooden public school opened in 1886 and that the new brick building was inaugurated on 9 January 1927, but its roof caught fire that October.

Teachers, the permanent fire brigade and a volunteer brigade responded. Neighbours moved furniture out into the yard. Crews fetched water from a nearby ditch as firefighters battled the blaze.

An earlier episode from 1898 involved well digger Kalle Niininen, who slipped while setting support timbers and fell into a deep construction well. Rescuers lowered a colleague on a hauling rope to retrieve him, and a doctor later noted a fractured piece of his hip.

Because the school and the teachers' flats were insured, repairs were funded by the Häme County Fire Insurance Association. These incidents were highlighted in a feature in Aamulehti. Messukylän school will mark the milestone with events later this autumn, officials say.