The boiler at the Jotun plant in Sandefjord is on fire and there is currently no control of the fire. The police have established a safety distance of 500 meters.
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The case is being updated.
The cookery at Jotun factories in Sandefjord is on fire. Pictures from the site show thick, black smoke rising from the factory.
This is what we know now:
- The police has evacuated all employees and it must be control of all. It reports the Southeast Police District on Twitter at 15.44
- So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange messages about someone injured in connection with the fire
- Police write that the fire not is under controlat 15.44
- The fire service has informed VG that there will be talk of one heavy fire in the cookery at the factory
- The police have set one safety distance of 500 meters due to toxic smoke, and it is reported danger of spreading to neighboring buildings
- It is recommended that everyone living within a radius of 2 km stays indoors and closes doors and windows
- The extent of the fire is currently unknown, and the fire service is working to uncover what kind of substances are inside the building
1 out of 5Photo: Geir Eriksen, Gfoto
Ask everyone in the area to stay inside
The Southeast Police District writes on Twitter that they recommend that everyone who lives within a radius of two kilometers from the area stays indoors and closes doors and windows.
The municipality has sent out a population warning by SMS to residents south of Jotun, in the direction the smoke is moving. Everyone is told to close windows, doors and ventilation hatches, as well as close ventilation systems.
Those who are to evacuate have been offered to show up at the town hall, which is located in Sandefjordsveien 3. Here they will be received by the Red Cross.
Eyewitness: – Smoke spills out
VG has been in contact with Camilla Jakobsen, who is located in the center of Sandefjord. She discovered the smoke just after 3 p.m.
– We only see smoke coming out, and we hear the fire brigade. We are too far away to hear any other sounds, she says to VG.
Another VG tipper who witnessed the fire says that there are a lot of police and ambulances on site.
– We are working to get an overview of the situation and evacuate, says communications manager in Jotun Kari-Ellen Liverød to VG.
She states that there are around 600 employees at the production plant in Sandefjord, but not as many who work where the fire occurred.
– We produce binders for paint in the cookery, where it burns, Liverød says.
Fire service: Exactly 45 years since the previous fire
The industrial company Jotun produces paints and powder coatings. The head office and two production facilities are located in Sandefjord, but Jotun is a group with more than 10,000 employees worldwide.
The fire service in Vestfold writes on Twitter that today it is unbelievably 45 years since the last fire at Jotun’s paint factory:
– It is among Norway’s largest industrial fires, and has helped change how the authorities in Norway have followed up industries that handle flammable goods, the fire service writes.
Six people lost their lives in the fire in 1976, and eleven were injured. Values of more than NOK 175 million were lost.
Jotun Kemiske Fabrik AS was founded in 1926. Today, the Jotun Group is owned by the Gleditsch and Orkla families. The group has 37 factories in 21 countries, and a total of 64 companies in 45 countries.
–Mayor: evokes special memories
Mayor Bjørn Ole Gleditsch (H) in Sandefjord comes driving down Sandefjordsveien when VG calls him.
– I see heavy black smoke. It initially looks dramatic, but I hope and believe that it is a limited fire that they have control over, he says at 15.30.
Then he just talked to the police station chief.
– They have a relatively small overview, but it is still a bit early. The fire is, as I understand it, relatively isolated, in a building that is some distance away from research and development and the office buildings, says Gleditsch, who is Jotun’s heir.
– The most important thing is that no people are affected, at least I have been told so far that it is not.
–It was his grandfather who started the company in his time. The mayor was 13 years old when a fire broke out in Jotun’s paint factory in 1976.
– I remember that fire very well, because my father was boss at Jotun. So when it first burns, special memories and emotions emerge, he says.
Gleditsch asks people staying in the area to follow police advice:
– People must stay away and not destroy the accessibility of fire, police and other necessary task forces.
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