Asking People to Stay Away: NRK Trøndelag News

There is a fire in the terrain by the waterworks out at Oksvoll in Ørland. The police have received reports of spreading out into the terrain. The emergency services are on the scene.

– According to the fire service at the scene, the fire has spread and it has great potential. Civil defense has been notified and will assist in extinguishing, writes operations manager Svein Erik Wagnild.

The police received the first report about the fire just after 4 p.m. At 6 p.m., the police warned that the fire was still growing.

The fire is said to have started after playing with a lighter.

– The emergency services work to secure people, buildings and livestock. As it looks now, there is no immediate danger to houses/buildings, Waghild writes.

The central 110 center confirms that it is burning well, and states that they have no control over the fire.

Evacuate farm

– The status is that it is a fire that is still developing. We have concentrated our work so far on ensuring that we secure both people, buildings and livestock. It has been priority one for us, says Waghild.

So far, one farm has been evacuated, but it is continuously assessed whether more homes need to be evacuated.

– It is terribly dry in Oksvoll. That’s why it’s burning very well up there now, but I have good faith that we will eventually get it under control.

It is uncertain how large the area on fire actually is, but it is a significant area.

Mountainside on fire

Operations manager in the police, Svein Erik Wagnild, states that the fire is starting to get quite large and asks people to stay away from the area.

– They get in our way, so we ask that they don’t do that. The emergency services must be able to get there to put out this fire, says Waghild.

A patrol on the scene says that an entire mountainside is on fire.

– It is so dry that it becomes an explosive way for the fire to spread. We need the necessary resources to extinguish the fire, and then we must ensure that people do not stand in the way.

The police are also asking people living in the area to close their windows and stay indoors.

16.48, duty manager Alexander Tangen tells the 110 center that it is very windy and burning well in the area of The Fosna People.

– We are bringing in a lot of people and have requested a helicopter, we do not have a full overview of the situation yet, but are taking it seriously, Tangen tells the newspaper.

Preparedness at the weekend

The Directorate for Community Security and Emergency Preparedness (DSB) has put two forest fire helicopters on alert from 6 February to 8 February.
The two helicopters will be placed at Vigra in Sunnmøre and at Voss in Vestland.

The forest fire helicopters are usually on standby from 15 April to 15 August.

– It has been decided to establish preparedness during the assessment period, as there is a reported high risk of grass and heather fires during the period due to dry weather and high winds in parts of the country, DSB stated before the weekend.