The police are asking for tips after the fire in a four-person home in the landslide area in Gjerdrum on Saturday night.
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The police in the East write on Twitter just before half past nine on Sunday morning that they have information that people have been observed in the area where a four-person house burned down in the landslide area in Gjerdrum.
The police want to get in touch with these and also want witness observations of cars and people who have been in the area during the relevant period.
– We go wide and are investigating the incident. I have no theories about what may have caused the fire, says operations manager Svein Walle.
He does not know when the police received this witness statement. The fire area has not been technically investigated yet.
– Great pity
Mayor of Gjerdrum, Anders Østensen, tells VG at nine o’clock on Sunday that he has not been to the fire site himself.
– What becomes so dramatic is that it happens in an area where those who live nearby are strongly affected. That kind of drama in that area is now highly undesirable, says Østensen.
Fortunately, we have an up-and-coming psychosocial team available, which was mobilized in a short time. We have already had an open culture house a few Sundays, and quickly mobilized on Saturday. I have received reports that people came, says the mayor.
He says he also brings with him what is good in the middle of what is sad, that people were not harmed.
That said, I have great sympathy and compassion for those who live next door, and who are still working to regain security and to get back to a normal everyday life.
Mayor Østensen states that most of the houses within the evacuated zone will be demolished, and that the owners have been paid the insurance settlements.
–Uninhabited
The four-person home that stands by the avalanche edge has been uninhabited since the quick clay avalanche on 30 December last year.
The police were notified of the fire via the 110 exchange at 22.40 on Saturday night.
At 0.30 the extinguishing work was in a post-extinguishing phase. Just before 05.00 on Sunday morning, there were still two fire trucks on site working on post-extinguishing and securing.
The four-person home is to be regarded as totally damaged.
The top two apartments have been burned down. The units downstairs are, but can not be habitable, said duty officer Atle Rønning at the 110 switchboard East on Sunday night.
You died
The fire service does not yet know what the cause of the fire is.
– There has been no electricity there, so it is very strange that it has caught fire. It is closed to take things out due to the security work, says Johnny Honningsvåg to VG.
He owns the house next door and traveled up from Lørenskog to see where the fire was, when he saw the news of the fire.
Ten people died when the quick clay landslide occurred in Ask in Gjerdrum on the night of 30 December last year.
14 residential buildings, consisting of 31 residential units, were taken by the landslide.
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