Christmas Day was dramatic for Berit Sjursen and her partner John-Arild Risa, among others. At home in Liaflaten in Åsane, they were drinking coffee when they suddenly heard a crash. Beyond the balcony were large blocks of ice, shattered into many pieces.
– What the hell was this, we thought.
– We were sitting drinking coffee and suddenly this happened. If you had such a thing in your head, you would never have lived again, she says.
Risa is very upset about what happened.
– We jumped on the sofa when we heard a bang. We were completely shocked when we saw the ice blocks, says Risa.
When she saw what had happened, she immediately called the police. You have to prioritize that, it’s life and health, she is quoted as saying.
– It ran down my spine
Police walked away when an IS rush was reported to have been reported in Åsane on Sunday morning afternoon. The large blocks of ice had slid off a tarp covering a scaffolding on the roof of the terraced block.
When it was windy, they crashed into the boards of several balconies, hitting a chair among other things.
– The resident usually sits and smokes in that chair. Luckily, the person in question wasn’t sitting there at the time, as quite a bit of ice had fallen. It would have been stupid if anyone had been hit, says operations director Eivind Hellesund of the incident.
BA meets the resident Hellesund talks about at home in her living room an hour after the shocking incident.
– I was about to sit on the chair when blocks of ice fell. One ran down my spine, says Nina Halvorsen.
Had to move a cushion on the chair before sitting down. If she had sat down right away, she would have been shocked, she thinks.
– Luckily today was not my turn. I think it was very disgusting, Halvorsen says soberly.
No one else was injured in the crash. It was the garden furniture and decorations that paid the price.
The police are opening a file on the matter.
– We don’t have a complete overview, but we will contact the responsible contractor, says the operations manager at the Western Police District, Jørgen Ommedal.
– Bortimo in shock
Large blocks of ice also fell into the walkway at the back of the blocks. Risa holds up one of the blocks to show how big many of them were.
– I am a project manager in the area of surface treatment and think a lot about safety. What happened here is absolutely wild, she says.
– I’m almost in shock, he adds.
The tarps continued to flap heavily while BA was in place.
Risa is very critical of the fact that contractor Berland Bygg AS did not anticipate this happening before the Christmas holidays.
– They must have known what could have happened when they saw how much wind was reported. They should have been accompanied by a person who came to check that everything was in order, she believes.
It should be checked today
Berland Bygg AS stands now and will rehabilitate the roof of the building in the coming weeks.
– Thursday we checked the scaffolding and tarps and tightened the straps. Within 48 hours, one of the straps came loose and water pooled. Since it was below freezing last night, it must have been freezing, says project manager Morten Rossland.
He believes they have a good handle on safety, take their precautions and have good routines to avoid unwanted accidents.
– But accidents happen, he adds.
– Also today at 16 we went out with an inspector anyway, because of the wind that was reported, he says.
He says that when it drops below freezing in the future, the company will close the balconies on the top floor to make sure no one gets hurt if the accident happens again.
Resident John-Arild Risa is relieved that no one was hurt when the large blocks of ice fell.
– The only bright spot in this is that Nina came out with her life intact and no one else was hurt, she says.
