Nearly 600 Acres Scorched in Grass and Heather Fire, Fire Brigade on Standby Throughout the Night

An area of ​​nearly 600 acres has been scorched. The fire brigade will be on standby throughout the night

The fire service was alerted to the grass and heather fire shortly before 4 p.m. The police then reported heavy smoke and the risk of it spreading.

BT Tips

– Thanks to a good effort, we have now knocked down most of the open flames, says incident leader Christian Alfredsen to BT at 8pm.

But he adds that it will simmer, and that there is a danger that it could flare up again.

– So here there will be fire preparedness throughout the evening and night, he adds.

Unknown cause

No buildings were damaged by the fire. The cause of the fire is unknown.

– A witness has been interviewed by the person who reported the fire, but beyond that we do not know what started the fire. It is very dry in the terrain, so we encourage people to be extremely careful when using open fires, says Alfredsen.

At 18:00 there was still a fire in the terrain at Agavegen in Bømlo. The fire spread in a northerly and north-easterly direction. There is some wind in the area.

– It is burning in an area that is 900 meters in one direction and 800 meters in the other direction. It’s very unclear, says Kåre Steinskog, duty officer at the 110 Sørvest switchboard.

The area that has burned is 500-600 acres, according to Steinskog.

– Going the right way

Crews from the stations at Bremnes and Mosterhamn participate in the extinguishing, together with a tanker from Stord. A drone and forest fire helicopter from Sauda have also been used in the extinguishing work.

– The helicopter is starting to gain control, so it is going the right way, says Steinskog at 6.15pm.

Extra crews were sent from Fitjar to relieve the firefighters who have been working for a long time.

– Relatively good control

At 19.30, the Sør-Vest police district reported that there is “relatively good control” of the fire.

“Restriction lines have been set up along the road in the western and eastern directions. Helicopters, fire trucks and tractors are engaged in extinguishing work at the site,” the police report on Twitter.

– It is still burning and we have not reduced the crew. But we’ll come in handy with the forest fire helicopter, which soaks the area so that the fire doesn’t spread further, says duty manager Kjetil Nesse at 7.45pm.

Difficult terrain

The crews are extinguishing both sides of the road south of Håpollen.

– It’s difficult terrain to get through. It’s burning on both sides of the road and it’s unclear, Steinskog said at 5 p.m.

There is a building nearby that the fire service has secured.

At 17.47 the police stated that it is not currently necessary to evacuate homes.