Thomas Rønning works as a football coach and had to watch his stand burn down. – I am at a loss for words, I just hope that there was something wrong with the electrical system that started the fire, and that there is no vandalism. It’s just sad to see. It took barely half an hour before the flames had engulfed the stands, he says. – An insane amount of volunteer work has been put into building this grandstand, and to see it evaporate in half an hour is absolutely heartbreaking. It is absolutely indescribable. – What does that mean for football and Melbu? – It is too early to say anything about, but the artificial grass pitch is destroyed. So I think we need to find out what happened, so I think we shouldn’t lie down because of that, but this is just sad. The team Melbo IL plays in the third division. No risk of spread It was on Tuesday evening a little before 21:00 that the fire service in Melbu was notified of the fire. – There is a fire in a grandstand facility with a superstructure at Melbu. The last report was that it was a fully developed fire, says Terje Øverdal at the 110 central in Nordland to news. Øverdal says they have not been notified that there is a risk of spreading to other buildings. – The fire service is working to get the flames under control. According to Chief Fire Marshal Øverdal, there have been no reports that people are in danger. – There was some spread to the grass, but it is now under control. Melbu is located in Vesterålen in Nordland. Major injuries Stig Hansen, first police officer at the scene, tells about major injuries. – We received a report that the stands at the stadium had caught fire, when we arrived at the scene the fire brigade started putting it out straight away. It had spread to the lawn. They extinguished it and secured the nearby buildings. The cause of the fire is still unknown to the police. SHOULD INVESTIGATE: Stig Hansen is the chief police officer in Vesterålen, and says that they will investigate the fire. The work starts as soon as the fire is extinguished. Photo: Tone Marit Sørensen – But there will eventually be a lot of investigation to find out what the cause is. Furthermore, the fire service will continue to extinguish the stands. – the investigation will eventually, with crime scene investigations and witness interviews, hopefully reveal what is the background to the fire, say the police. Became an eyewitness Aleksander Reinholdsen witnessed the fire. He lives in the nearest house to the stands, and was walking his dog just 20 minutes before the fire started. – Then I should let the dog out 20 minutes later, and see that it is in full fire. Reinholdsen jumps out to help. – I open the gate and call the fire brigade, but everything is engulfed in flames. It took perhaps ten minutes before the fire brigade arrived at the scene, Reinholdsen assumes. He saw no one at the scene before the fire itself.
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Tribune burned down at Melbu in Vesterålen – football coach in shock – news Nordland
