Over a year ago, the alarm went off at the fire service in Bergen. They received a report about a gas leak at Zachariasbryggen, which is located close to Fisketorget in the center of Bergen – with the World Heritage-protected Bryggen on one side. – But there was no leak when we arrived. It turned out to be much worse than we thought, says brigade leader at the main fire station in Bergen, Hans Petter Nilsen. In reality, it was a propane tank of over six thousand liters that had come loose and turned over. news can now show new images from what the drama really was like inside the barricades on that dramatic day. Fire chief Frode Lie believes that many will get a new impression of the seriousness of the incident: – I don’t think people have understood how critical it was. There is no doubt that this could have been serious. A propane tank of over six cubic meters has great damage potential. DISCUSSING: news can now, in connection with the 110 series, present new images from that dramatic day. Here, the fire service, police and gas contractor make a plan for how to solve it. Photo: 110 / news Could have gone into the air news’s newly published images show how the fire service assessed the situation. At its most dramatic, there was talk of considering turning on the gas. If things had gone wrong that day, a part of the center of Bergen could have been blown up. The images of the drama have not been published before and will appear in the new documentary series “110”. In the series, news follows the fire service in Bergen. The gas problem at Fisketorget could have had enormous consequences for the center of Bergen, shows an evaluation report made by the Bergen fire service from this spring. The press and people were kept outside by the extensive barricades. The 110 series shows what was going on inside. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news Six thousand liters of gas The tank in question was usually secured in a concrete hole under the ground on the quay, and supplied restaurants and nightclubs on Zachariasbryggen with gas. The big problem the fire brigade faced was that the tank floated in the water like a bob – with the gas valves facing downwards. If the water in the concrete hole had sunk, the valves would have hit the bottom and broken across. Large quantities of propane gas could then have leaked out. – It is the worst thing that could have happened, says Nilsen. Together with air, propane can form an explosive mixture. In the worst case, this would have spread underground in the city centre. THE PROBLEM: This is what the tank looked like when it was in the concrete hole. Photo: Bergen fire service / Privat Set fire to “Zachen” and Torget? The fire brigade’s plan was to turn the tank over before the valves hit the bottom. Everyone in a zone of 300 meters from the tank was evacuated. If the plan had not worked, the fire service was ready to ignite the gas as soon as the valves hit the bottom – but not without consequences. In the 110 series, you can see the fire service discussing the potential dilemma. The fire marshal estimated that they only had around 20 minutes. – I would assume that it would lead to a large fire on Zachariasbryggen, together with a possible fire on buildings on Torget, says Nilsen. The press and people were kept outside by the extensive barricades. The 110 series shows what was going on inside. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news – Nerve-wrenching Fire Chief Frode Lie helped to turn the tide and describes it as nerve-wracking when they suddenly had worse time. – Then we didn’t have time for any nonsense. We hadn’t done anything like this before, nor did we know if we could turn the idea around until we actually tried it, he says. Lie and the crew finally managed to turn the tank the right way. PLAN: Fire chief Frode Lie (left) and brigade leader Hans Petter Nilsen make a plan to get the propane tank turned over. Photo: 110 / news – We were very happy when it was all over – it was a discharge. It was quite tense for a period, and many people had to be evacuated, says Hans Petter Nilsen. Pressure waves An evaluation report that the Bergen Fire Service has prepared in the aftermath of the incident considers what could have been the worst possible scenario that day. It shows that things could have gone horribly wrong. – Under no circumstances could we risk the gas drifting into the center of Bergen. A small spark would be enough to ignite this. Then you risk human life, says Nilsen. The worst part, however, had been the explosion’s pressure wave. In the simulation of the incident, the starting point is that the contents of the tank would have had a degree of filling of 80 per cent, and that the gas cloud has been ignited to maximum extent. The fire department had a plan to light the gas right away, which would minimize the damage. EXPLOSION: This illustration shows the worst possible explosion. Photo: Illustration / GEXCON The fire brigade in Bergen says today that their own assessment is that they consider the risk under the situation to be significantly less than the worst case scenario described in the report. Here you can watch the first episode of 110: A huge gas tank in the middle of Bergen city center is in danger of exploding. Does the brigade leader have to sacrifice Zachariasbryggen to save human life?
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