Two buildings at Hemsedal alpine center caught fire. The fire brigade struggled for a long time to get control, but until Thursday night they report that the danger is over
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It started burning in a building at a ski resort in Hemsedal around 4pm on Wednesday.
It burned in an apartment building under construction. The fire spread to a neighboring building, which is also an apartment building.
There is extensive damage to both complexes. The extinguishing work went on for a long time.
– There is no reason to believe that it will spread further now, said operations manager Arild Alfheim in the South-East police district to VG just before 10 pm.
Around 00:10, the police report to NTB that the fire is under control.
– The fire crews have control of the fire, but will probably continue with the extinguishing work until the morning, says operations manager Tore Grindem at the Southeast police district to NTB a little after midnight.
Duty manager Martin Slevigen at the 110 exchange South-East confirms that there is no longer a danger of spreading and that they have stopped the fire from moving outwards.
Demanding firefighting work
Everyone in the neighboring building has been accounted for, and it has also not been reported that any of those who work on the building during construction are missing, says operations manager Alfheim.
It is a large building stock and that it is a time-consuming job, says Alfheim. Earlier, the 110 exchange stated that it was demanding firefighting work.
– There is a lot of energy that burns, and it is difficult to get control. Work is mostly done with external extinguishing, Slevigen said at 19.45 on Wednesday night.
There was also some wind in the area which made the firefighting work more difficult.
Powerful flames
There were a lot of crews in turn. A total of 13 vehicles from the fire service contributed on the spot, according to the 110 exchange.
The fire service received assistance from the fire service in Lærdal and Årdal.
Residents in the area were asked to close the windows as there was some smoke from the scene.
Traffic was directed at the site to prevent more people from entering the area where it burned, the police say.
Videos from the site show powerful flames and a lot of black smoke pouring out of the building, which is located in the ski lift area at the alpine center in Hemsedal.
–Marketing director Ida Thue Stokstad in Solon Eiendom confirms that one of their buildings under construction in the Fjellandsbyen Hemsedal project is affected.
– We do not know anything more yet and can not comment on cause, consequence or anything else, says Stokstad.
Residents in the area are asked to close windows as there is some smoke from the place, the police write in an update.
Has set crisis staff
Evacuated are taken care of by the municipality. Mayor of Hemsedal, Pål Terje Rørby, confirms to VG that the municipality has set crisis staff.
– We have gathered the crisis management to get an overview of the situation, both in relation to which agencies are in place, development and risk of spread, says Rørby.
He says that large resources are in place to keep spectators at a safe distance, as well as secure nearby buildings.
–– Do you know anything about the extent of the damage?
– So far, we have not received reports of personal injuries, only material injuries. But we are following the situation quite closely, as there is still a danger of it spreading.
– Is it known how the fire started?
– No, but there must have been construction workers in one building, so we assume that the fire started in that building.
Witness: – It happened very quickly
It is still too early to say anything about the cause of the fire, the police say.
A witness at the scene, Håvard Røkland, tells VG that the fire seemed to occur very quickly.
– We went from one end of the parking lot to another, and past the building. During what we had come to the other side, there was a full fire in the building. It happened very quickly, says Røkland.
According to Røkland, the emergency services were quickly in place to handle the fire.
– I can see from the cabin that it still smokes, but it does not seem to be full over-ignition anymore.
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