It was in connection with a police exercise that a fire started at the police training center at Vatnefjell in Sandnes. A flare ignited the ground. The fire brigade moved out just after ten o’clock on Thursday morning. – We have responded to a wildfire in the area by the Vatne shooting range in Sandnes. At the moment it is not a big fire, but there is a risk of spreading. It is dry in the terrain, and last year’s grass is burning very quickly now, said Svein Knutsen, duty fire chief at Rogaland fire and rescue at 10.30am. However, there was never any danger of it spreading to buildings, according to the police. It was the police themselves who caused the fire during an exercise. Photo: Heidi Karin Gilje Skog – The first thing I got from the emergency manager was that part of the fire has been extinguished, but that it is flaring up. The fire service has been dispatched to the terrain, but there is no danger of it spreading to buildings, said operations manager in the South-West police district, Helen Rygg Ims. – Is it standard procedure in the police to launch rockets into dry vegetation? – I cannot comment on that, because I have not spoken to them about it, but it is standard procedure in the police to use flares. – Not the best assessment Task leader Kjetil Østrått acknowledges that the police have made a mistake when they fired flares of the type that descend in parachutes. – This is not a desired situation. Assessments were made in advance as to whether they should use these light grenades, but they concluded that the terrain was so damp that they chose to launch them. It turns out in hindsight that was not the best assessment, but fortunately it has gone very well. There has been no damage to property, houses, people or animals, so it’s actually very good, says the task leader.
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The police caused a forest fire in Sandnes – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
