– We are now considering whether, and possibly when, forensics will enter the building. But before they can enter, the building must be completely cold, says operations manager in the Sør-West police district, Toralv Skårland, to news shortly after 8am on Sunday. A large fire in the old sports hall/swimming hall at Dale in Sandnes could be seen from afar last night. The police received a report about the fire at 11.45pm late on Saturday evening. The fire should have been extinguished at 04.30. – But the fire service is still on the scene and looking after it. Forensics will probably not enter the building until Monday at the earliest. It is far too early to say anything about the cause of the fire, says Skårland. Three scenarios The operations manager states, however, that the investigation has already started. The police work based on three scenarios. There may be a technical reason why the fire started. Negligence. Someone may have set fire to the building on purpose. They are asking for tips from people who may have information about the case. – Was there anyone present who saw this? – I have no information about that at the present time. The police have started to collect information and conduct interrogations, says Skårland. In addition to damage to the building, there will be cars that have been damaged by the fire. See pictures below of how it looks on Sunday: Ready for demolition The building is owned by Dale utvikling. The plan was for it to be demolished eventually, Ole Tom Guse, head of Dale development, told news on Sunday morning. – What was inside the building? – There were building materials in parts of the building, while part of it was used as a workshop and car repair shop. There must have been some cars inside the building and some outside, says Guse. He says that he received several reports about the fire from 11.45pm and throughout the night. – It was quite hectic. People called and said “it’s on fire, it’s on fire”. For a while it was just a matter of ending a phone call and taking the next one right away. I wasn’t home until 04.15 last night, says Guse. However, the building will be located some distance from the other buildings on Dale, so there should not have been an immediate danger of spreading. Guse goes on to say that he intends to go out to the place later today. – What consequences does this have for you? – We will lose some rental income, and there will be some additional costs in connection with demolition. The most annoying thing is that there will be a lot of extra work, he says.
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Investigating the fire at Dale in Sandnes – may have been arson – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
