Stories

The story goes that the painter’s pit burst into flames immediately when it was ignited. In about half an hour, many years’ hard work disappeared up in smoke. A sudden gust of wind may have caused the fire. The destruction of the tar-burning pit was a catastrophe for the family. “The dates in the church register indicate unambiguously that in the years of crop failure and famine, which began soon after the accident, one of Heikki’s sons, Juho, as well as his wife and children, died of hunger. (…)The income from tar would probably have changed their fate.” (Jyrkkä 2008)