Forest fire in Bø: Under control – VG

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This is what operations manager Kai Lindgren, who is on site, says Telemark newspaper.

– It goes really well. We are making good progress. We have taken all the flanks (east, west, south and north). There are no open flames around, but there is something inside the area. We have a plan for today and tonight, as well as tomorrow. Tonight there will be observation and as soon as it gets dark we pull the crew out, Lindgren says.

It was at 2 pm on Thursday afternoon that a large fire broke out in a hiking area near Eriksteinsfjellet in Bø in Telemark.

About two hours later, reports came that the fire had spread rapidly and had quadrupled in size in about half an hour.

– It has gone from ground level and up to the treetops. It moves quickly as it blows a lot, said operations manager Kai Lindgren in the fire service then.

Throughout the afternoon, it continued to spread, while the turning point came at 19:00 – then the fire crews had managed to limit the extent of the fire, but still did not have complete control over it.

The duty manager Martin Slevig in the fire service told VG that it was a difficult terrain to put out.

– It is very impassable terrain. It is steep and rugged.

Two helicopters were deployed in the extinguishing work. In addition, the Civil Defense was also deployed with 15 people who assisted by laying out hoses for the fire service, the police informed VG at 19 o’clock.

Due to the wind direction, there was no immediate danger of spreading to houses.

The fire brigade had crews on all sides of the fire to stop and extinguish it. It is very dry in the area.

The fire brigade has planned to be on site for a long time.

– It is completely impassable for humans when it burns. Trees are falling on the site and there are a lot of cliffs and steep valleys. There is also no driveway up there. The fire service is now focusing on the fire not spreading to lower parts and to the yard nearby, Tom Berger in the fire service told Telemarksavisa earlier Thursday.

During the strongest period of the fire, flames went all the way up to the treetops in some places, according to the fire department.

Parts of county road 334 near Bø were also closed as a result of the fire.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has issued an orange warning for forest fires in several places in the country.

Warm weather and little rainfall make it extra dry, which increases the risk of forest and grass fires. According to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the danger of forest fires in southern Norway will persist until there is some precipitation.

April was the ninth driest April in 122 years.

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