There is a smell of smoke in large areas of Vestfold, the Fire Brigade reports around midnight on the night of Sunday. – This is the largest forest fire in more than 27 years in Vestfold, not certainly in area, but certainly in duration. It’s the worst place we could have a forest fire, says Jan Olav Vagle, fire chief in Larvik fire and rescue. It was Thursday around 4.30pm that a fire started in the forest at Middagskollen, which is located on the border between Larvik and Siljan municipality. It burns 50 percent in Siljan and 50 percent in Larvik. Photo: Håkon Lie / news Impassable terrain There are difficult working conditions for the fire crews as it is steep in many places. – The fire is going on in almost impassable terrain, we had two forest fire helicopters operating on Saturday, it will still burn throughout the night. And tomorrow we have been promised three forest fire helicopters, says the fire chief. There will be fire crews out in the rough terrain all night, and it will burn all night. – How long it takes to put out the fire, it is impossible to answer on Saturday night, says Vagle. Jan-Olav Vagle, fire chief in Larvik. Photo: Håkon Lie / news Smoke smell The smoke from the fire drifted low and far on Saturday in the fine weather with winds from the west and south. The forest fire has meant that residents across large parts of inner Vestfold, such as in Kodal, Andebu, Vivestad, Re and Ramnes, have smelled smoke and called 110. – If residents notice nothing but a stable smell of smoke, then it probably originates from the fire we are handling. If you notice a stronger smell, or a significant change, then check the immediate area and possibly call 110, says Vagle Brannen can be seen from Rv. 40 and Svartangveien. Under control – The fire has gotten a little bigger, but we are under control, fire chief Jan Olav Vagle in Larvik told news earlier. On Saturday, they received help in putting out 20 people from the Civil Defense and a fire helicopter. Vagle says they will now try to create a fire escape, 350 meters long with a width of 6–8 metres, north of the fire to stop it from growing that way. – It is a very demanding and impassable area and the fire goes 40 to 50 cm into the ground, says Vagle on Saturday. He does not expect the fire to be extinguished before a few days. Both the forest fire helicopter and the civil defense are on the scene. At around 10.00 on Friday, fire chief Jan-Olav Vagle said that the terrain was still burning well. Then there was no control over the fire. – We are lucky that there is no particular wind and that helps us a lot, Vagle said on Friday. Hoping to limit the fire On Thursday, work was done with great effort with help from a helicopter. They were unable to extinguish the fire before it became too dark. Vagle says that the area where the fire is burning is impossible to stay in when it gets dark. They therefore had to end the extinguishing and wait until this morning, and then the fire had flared up. – The forest fire from yesterday has continued to develop, and is getting bigger and bigger. We have now got the helicopter up and running again, so that we hope to contain the fire. Vagle says that they are completely dependent on helicopters, due to rough terrain. – On this fire, a helicopter is indispensable, says the fire chief. Photo: Håkon Lie / news Lightning probable cause There are no buildings nearby. – It’s a very impassable area, so it’s a fire we’re going to keep at it for a very long time. – Do you know the cause of the fire? – It is probably 99 percent certain that it is a lightning strike. We had lightning over here yesterday and the fire came immediately after that, says Vagle. The Norwegian Civil Defense is working to supply a pump from Svartangvannet, to get water up into the terrain, according to Vagle. – We have crews up on the ground, and that requires a lot of crews both from the civil defense and permanent crews in the fire service. Around 10–15 people from the Civil Defense are in place in Kvelde. Photo: Håkon Lie / news
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The civil defense and forest fire helicopter contribute to the forest fire in Kvelde – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
