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Well my extended stay in Reykjavik finally came to an end, and I’ve been forced to return to my “real life” here in Seattle. It was a great three weeks, just being in the country, surrounded by the language and holiday festivities. I got way too relaxed (or maybe lazy) and took a bit of a break from blogging, but now it’s back to the business of learning Icelandic!

This story about a report of a fire had the phrase brenna yfir, which I think means to either burn out or overheat – it’s used in discussing a motor, so one of those translations seems appropriate. I’m pretty sure I walked past this place at some point during my Reykjavik wanderings 🙂

Mótor brann yfir á Höfðatorgi
Motor overheated at Höfðatorg

Enginn eldur reyndist vera í turninum við Höfðatorg. Allt tiltækt slökkvilið á höfuðborgarsvæðinu var kallað út eftir að tilkynnt var um eld á 20. hæð í turninum. Húsið var rýmt áður en í ljós kom að reykurinn stafaði af því að mótor fyrir loftræstingu í húsinu hafði brunnið yfir.

There turned out to be no fire at the Höfðatorg tower. All available fire departments in the capital area were called out after word was received of a fire on the 20th floor of the tower. The building was evacuated before it became apparent that the smoke was caused by a motor for the building ventilation system which had overheated.

að brenna – to burn, be on fire
present past
ég brenn brann
þú brennur brannst
það brennur brann
við brennum brunnum
þið brennið brunnuð
þau brenna brunnu
  
turn (m) – tower
singular plural
nom turn turnar
acc turn turna
dat turni turnum
gen turns turna

The verb rýma has the dictionary meaning of vacate, but also seems to be used for evacuate. You may have seen it in the news recently with all the snow in the Vestfirðir, some houses and buildings had to be evacuated due to the avalanche risk (snjóflóðahætta).

If you deconstruct the word for ventilation system (loftræsting) you get the word for air (loft) and a word that has a meaning related to cleaning (housecleaning) – ræsting. 🙂

There is another verb brenna which has a different conjugation (being a weak verb as opposed to a strong) which has a slightly different meaning. It still means burn, but I believe it is more the act of burning something or setting it on fire, as opposed to being on fire. And while I’m at it, may as well throw in the other brenna, the noun for bonfire 🙂

að brenna – to burn, set on fire
present past
ég brenni brenndi
þú brennir brenndir
það brennir brenndi
við brennum brenndum
þið brennið brennduð
þau brenna brenndu
  
brenna (f) – bonfire
singular plural
nom brenna brennur
acc brennu brennur
dat brennu brennum
gen brennu brenna

Samkvæmt upplýsingum frá lögreglu er reykur á 20. hæð en engin starfsemi er á þeirri hæð. Húsið var rýmt strax og fjöldi fólks kom saman í andyrinu. Fólki sem vinnur á sjö neðstu hæðum hússins hefur verið leyft að snúa aftur til vinnu.

According to information from police there is smoke on the 20th floor but there are no businesses on that floor. The building was evacuated immediately and a crowd of people gathered in the lobby. People who work on the building’s lowest seven floors were allowed to return to work.

turn m                       tower
til·tækur adj                handy, to hand
slökkvi·lið n                fire department
rýma v                       vacate
þetta stafar af því að       the cause (of this) is that
loft·ræsting f               ventilation
hæð f                        floor, storey
starf·semi f indecl          operation, activity, work
snúa aftur                   return, go back