The Nordland 110 station reports on Tuesday evening that there is a fire in a building in Melbu. The building in question is the Havfisk stadium grandstand structure.
There will be a complete fire in the stands, Bladet Vesterålen is informed by people on the spot. The structure is completely engulfed in flames.
Firefighters are now on site and it may appear that they are initially working on 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.
– 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.
