The police report Twitter at 19.50 that the fire is under control and that there is no longer a danger of it spreading.
Extinguishing fires and damping heat is still ongoing.
The extent of the damage must be extensive.
– The gymnasium and the administration building are still standing, but the building body that contained the classroom has been burned down. The fire brigade will work on site through the night, the police write at 20.50.
Open flames
The police were first notified of the fire at 4.30 pm on Thursday.
Then there were open flames and a lot of smoke on the spot.
– Unfortunately, we do not have control yet. This is a fire under development and it is developing the wrong way, said operations manager Terje Marstad to Dagbladet earlier this afternoon.
He says that the fire has spread in the ventilation system and that it therefore burns in large parts of the school.
– Work is in full swing here, but there are still open flames and smoke.
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– There is a danger that the school will be completely damaged. We know that parts of the school will be, so we will see what happens next in the evening. This looks like a job that will take a reasonable amount of time, says Marstad.
Evacuation may be necessary
People living in the residential areas Østlia, Folkestadlia, Folkestadstubben and Folkestadveien are asked to close doors and windows. According to the police, they must also prepare for having to evacuate.
– There may be a risk of spreading. The smoke moves north, so we take precautions, says the operations manager.
The reason why the police think people must be prepared for evacuation is that it is already hot on the ground on the north side of the school in the direction of the forest.
– The wind is awkward with us. Now it is probably an estimated eight to ten second meters, and then it can drift towards those fields. This means that evacuation may be necessary. I do not have all the details, but there are a good number of homes that may be relevant to evacuate, says Marstad.
Kindergarten evacuated
There are no people in the school building, and no injuries have been reported.
The kindergarten northwest of the fire site has been evacuated in case the wind turns. There is also a vaccination center next door to the school.
– There were probably some people there, but they have been evacuated, Marstad says.
It is too early to say anything about the cause of the fire.
Mayor of Våler municipality, Reidar Kaabbel (Sp), asks residents to stay away from the fire.
– Now it’s burning at Kirkebygden ungdomsskole. All emergency services are present and it is important that we are not in the way, so that the blue light services can do the job, so please do not show up at Kirkebygden now, he writes on Facebook.
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