Fire, Vesterålen | Havfisk Stadium Fire: – Words are hard to find

(Vesterålen magazine) Nordland 110 has reported on Tuesday evening that there is a fire in a building in Melbu. The building in question is the Havfisk stadium grandstand structure.

Around 21:00 there was a complete fire in the stands, Bladet Vesterålen was informed by people on the spot.

The firefighters immediately intervened on the spot and initially started the damage control. The club house, which is nearby, must not be illuminated.

– The firefighters are now working to put out the flames. There was some spilling on the lawn and they had it cut down. There is also a risk of spreading to the grandstand building, and the firefighters are still working on this, says Terje Øverdal, Senior Fire Marshal at Central 110 in Nordland.

He says there have been no reports of injuries or people in danger. Both Melbu and Stokmarknes fire brigade teams are now working on the scene.

Around 9.30 pm the firefighters had put out the flames, but there was still a lot of embers.

Surprised when the message arrived

Police operations chief Stig Hansen says the building was already on fire when the fire was reported.

– When the fire brigade teams arrived at the scene, a fire occurred in the grass and efforts were initially made to extinguish the fire in the artificial grass, as well as to protect the surrounding buildings.

Hansen says it’s too early to say anything about the cause of the fire.

– The police will initiate an investigation and, if anyone has seen anything, we will take suggestions, he says.

– Just sad

Frank Arne Karlsen in Melbo IL had recently been informed of the fire when Bladet Vesterålen spoke to him.

– It’s hard to find the words, other than that it’s incredibly sad. I don’t know how many volunteer hours are associated with this facility, but there are many and many feel they own the facility, says Karlsen.

He was not on the site himself, but he understood that damage to the artificial grass had occurred due to the heat radiation from the fire.

– I just hope the damage from the fire is not so violently extensive. Fortunately, the clubhouse was not damaged and the fire crews were able to cool the artificial turf pretty quickly, so hopefully they managed to contain the fire as much as possible, says Karlsen.

– Now I hope they can find the cause of the fire and that it is not vandalism, says Karlsen.