On Monday afternoon, a bus first caught fire, before the fire spread to several parked buses.
– Several buses are on fire at a bus stand in an industrial area, operations manager Fredrik Solbakken in the East police district told NRK.
The fire was extinguished shortly before 3:00 p.m., according to the police at X. A safety distance of 300 meters was established in the area.
– We would prefer not to have people in the area around there, said duty manager for the fire service, Ole-Martin Isebakke.
Several of the buses are damaged.
Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / NRK
The area where the fire occurred is an industrial area and a parking lot for buses in the Nedre Glomma region.
Not far away is a housing estate. The message to the neighbors was clear.
– People in the area should preferably not expose themselves to the smoke, but close doors and windows. Possibly switch off the ventilation system so that the smoke does not get sucked into the houses, said Isebakke.
No risk of explosion
No injuries have been reported following the fire, and the danger of an explosion in the gas buses was early dismissed by the police.
The reason was that the buses had a safety valve.
The fire service in Sarpsborg was helped by tankers from Fredrikstad and Moss.
There are a total of 70 buses on the square, according to bus company Nobina. Now at least ten fewer buses after the fire.
Heavy black smoke is billowing after several buses have caught fire in Sarpsborg.
Photo: Rune Fredriksen / NRK
Will affect public transport
Director of Østfold Kollektivtrafikk Børre Johnsen says that the incident will affect public transport in Nedre Glomma in the future.
– We do not have an overview of anything now. What undoubtedly needs to happen is that we need to get hold of free buses, but we need to communicate with Nobina about this. This could have consequences for all routes, as well as school buses, says Johnsen.
– This is sad. I really feel sorry for the company, drivers and everyone involved, he adds.
Nobina knows nothing about the cause of the fire.
– The most important thing now is to get control of the situation, says Nordseth.
2024-01-22 13:52:46
#Bus #fire #Sarpsborg
