Mika Hakkinen’s French villa has been destroyed by fire, local police reported earlier this morning. The Finnish double world champion had been relaxing at his luxury house with his partner and another friend. All three managed to escape the blaze, although apparently a dog perished while trapped inside the building. It is unknown if the local police meant Hakkinen’s partner to be his wife, Erja, as the two are currently seeking divorce, according to Finnish and German tabloids.
The home, set out over three floors and approximately 800-square-metres, is located in the picturesque village of Callian, just north of Lake Saint Cassien in the Provence region of France. Although the ground floor survived, the first and second floors have been destroyed. Fire investigators believe it to be an electrical fault that triggered the blaze, initiated by a display case housing many of Hakkinen’s trophies.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:28pm
This is sad news. It is good that nobody was injured though.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:19am
:’[
Poor doggy.
Comforted in the fact that Hakkinen and compatriots escaped unharmed.
“Fire investigators believe it to be an electrical fault that triggered the blaze, initiated by a display case housing many of Hakkinen’s trophies.”
This quote is somewhat entertaining. Pride incongruously and unpredictably leading toward catastophy in a humorous manner brings a wry, understated grin to my face.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:10pm
I must admit, I did allow a small smile to adorn my face when I read about how investigators believed the fire to have started. I should also add that Hakkinen wasn’t actually at his villa when the fire broke out, and the lady in question is in fact his girlfriend and not wife/former wife Erja Hakkinen.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:28pm
This is so sad the poor dog , But also it must be awful to loose the trophies that he won and no doubt held lots of special memories - glad Mika is OK
May 21st, 2008 at 5:39am
I thought a dog day was when it was very hot outside, not inside
Let’s be happy that none of the occupiers was killed or seriously injured, not to mention the fourty something firemen…