A fire broke out on a bus in the paddock in Surbsburg on Monday afternoon, but soon spread to several parked buses.
Bus owner Nobina said 70 buses were stopped in the area.
The fire was reported to emergency services around 1.15pm.
– Several buses are on fire at a bus station in an industrial area, Fredrik Solbakken, operations manager in the Eastern Police District, told NRK.
Firefighters battled for over an hour to bring the fire under control. The fire was reportedly extinguished shortly before 3 p.m.
Chief of Police Operations, Fred Peterson. He said that the fire department has now brought the fire under control.
Photo: Bjøringsøy Jansson / also NRK
– We control the fire very well. The fire department is engaged in extinguishing the buses. There is no danger of an explosion or other people around here, says the head of the police work at the scene, Frode Petersen.
8 buses were completely destroyed in this fire.
300 meter safety zone
Heavy smoke billowed from the spot before the fire brigade brought it under control.
Emergency services established a 300-metre buffer zone from the staging area.
– We want people not to be in the area around it, fire service supervisor Ole-Martin Isebakke told NRK.
Many buses were damaged.
Photo: Bjøringsøy Jansson / also NRK
The area where the fire broke out is an industrial area and a bus stop in Netre Gloma area.
Far away is a housing estate. Residents of the area were advised to stay away.
– People in the area should close doors and windows so as not to expose themselves to smoke. If necessary, turn off the ventilation system so that smoke is not absorbed into the house.
Police will investigate the incident
No one was injured in the fire.
As the buses in the square were fitted with safety valves, the police considered the risk of an explosion to be minimal.
– When it first starts burning, it burns relatively well. When we reached the spot, there was a huge fire. At the same time, because they are gas-based, there are fires that burn relatively quickly, says Terje Surdal, emergency manager of the fire service.
Terje Surdahl, the fire service's incident leader, said they rushed out with large resources when they were notified of the fire.
Photo: Bjøringsøy Jansson / also NRK
– When water gets on it, it can be dealt with by the crew.
Tankers from Friedrichstadt and Moss assisted the fire service in Sarpsborg during the extinguishing operation.
– We are IPChief Peterson says police will try to investigate the cause of the fire.
Public transport will be affected
Director of Østfold Kollektivtrafikk Børre Johnsen said the incident will affect Nedre Glomma public transport in the future.
– We don't have an overview of anything right now. What will undoubtedly happen is to catch the free buses, but we will have to contact Nobina about this. That could have ramifications for all routes and school buses, Johnson says.
– This is regrettable. “I feel really sorry for the company, the drivers and everyone involved,” he added.
A total of 8 buses were completely damaged in the fire at Sarpsborg.
Photo: Bjøringsøy Jansson / also NRK
Nobina knows nothing about the cause of the fire.
– Now the most important thing is to control the situation, says Karin Nordseth, director of marketing.
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