– At around 09.40 the emergency services received a report of a fire out here at the recycling facility at Forus. We rushed to the scene, where it turned out to be a fire in a facility that receives paper. There was heavy smoke in the facility, says Kim Flakstad, the police’s incident leader to news. The fire service is starting to get control of the fire, and has mostly been extinguishing it from outside the building. Help from a helicopter – The fire is very demanding, as it is high under the roof inside the building. The smoke builds up on the inside, and it is difficult to get in there because high temperature, says Tom Meyer, acting fire chief. In the 16th century, the facade began to bow inwards. Eventually parts of the roof collapsed, according to Meyer. The fire in IVAR’s garbage facility at Forus has been filmed by many. The building has started to make thunder-like sounds, which the fire service believes could be the structure moving. – It is a steel structure, and there are high temperatures. That’s why we pulled people out of the building. In danger of collapsing, says the fire chief. The fire helicopter arrived at 6pm to assist with the extinguishing. The civil defense is also present to assist with delivering more water. – The wiring network that runs out here has been blown up. We use too much water. That is why we are asking for help from the Civil Defense, says Meyer. The fire service has been working at full strength at Forus today. Photo: Kristoffer Apall Toxic smoke At 18:00 there is still heavy smoke from the plant. The smell can be felt over large parts of Sandnes municipality. Response leader Flakstad asks the public in the vicinity to close windows and not expose themselves to the smoke. – The smoke is dangerous, he says. The fire brigade continuously monitors the smoke and wind direction. They will work through the night until they have control. Tom Meyer, acting fire chief for Rogaland fire and rescue. Photo: Even Hye Tytlandsvik Barka / news The police also sent out a message as a population alert to people in the immediate area. Anyone with a mobile signal in the vicinity of the fire was notified that they were near an ongoing fire with potentially hazardous smoke. The fire department is currently in the area with 26-27 crews. Meyer believes the fire department will be on the scene until tomorrow morning. The police advise households in the vicinity to close windows and turn off ventilation. Photo: Kristoffer Apall / news Total damage The police now consider the building as total damage. CEO of IVAR, Ingrid Nordbø, says it has been a sad day at work today. – First of all, we are incredibly relieved that no one was injured, she says. According to IVAR, the facility has a high level of fire protection, and they have used all possible fire prevention measures that are available. She has no thoughts yet about how this could have happened, but says that the building is insured. The smoke at Forus is clearly visible from planes on their way to landing at Stavanger Airport. Photo: news – It is too early to speculate on the causes of the fire and further for the time being. We will assess that when we have more information, and when the fire is out, says Nordbø. The fire will not currently have any consequences for the residents. – We will sort and deliver residual waste in the same way as before. Stavanger municipality reports that IVAR has opened the recycling station at Sele på Jæren. It will be open this weekend. – Tragically The fire is isolated inside the building it is burning, according to incident leader Flakstad. – It is tragic. We are talking about great values. We don’t know the reason, says operations manager for recycling at IVAR, Anita Austigard. Anita Austigard is operations manager at IVAR IKS. Photo: Even Hye Tytlandsvik Barka / news There must have been a fire in a conveyor belt in the paper sorting. There was a lot of white smoke at the scene, but shortly afterwards the fire service announced that they had the fire under control. At 10.55, however, the counter notification came. The fire had flared up again in a conveyor belt, and the facility is closed to the public again. Fire in the recycling plant at Forus – We had the fire under control for a while, but now the fire has picked up again and work is now being done to regain control of the fire. We have a black smoke that we don’t like very much, so we have worked to evacuate people in the immediate area, says Flakstad. The employees in the building have been evacuated, and no injuries have been reported. According to Flakstad, two employees must have been sent to the emergency room after inhaling smoke. There are large fire crews on the scene. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news Austigard tells news at 12 o’clock that the fire has probably spread to the sorting facility itself. – We hope it does not spread even further. If it spreads to the ceiling, it will have fatal consequences. Then the building is destroyed, she says. The police’s incident leader, Kim Flakstad, talks to IVAR’s operations manager, Anita Austigard. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news One of the world’s most modern sorting facilities at Forus is one of the world’s most modern sorting facilities for residual waste. It was completed in 2019. IVAR has spent around NOK 650 million to build this facility. It receives waste from 350,000 residents in Rogaland. IVAR’s post-sorting facility is 11,000 square meters in size. The Swedish Road Traffic Center informs at 1pm that the road around the building, from the roundabout at Forusbeen to the roundabout towards Svanholmen, will be closed as a result of the fire. Photo: Screenshot
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– Think it’s collapsing – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
