About 30 apartments in Hemsett will be on fire on Wednesday. The contractor will consider whether to demolish any of the buildings currently under construction.
Two apartment buildings, one of which burned down during construction Wednesday afternoon in Hemsett. In a press release on Thursday, contractor Videke Pike said the building would now be considered for demolition and rebuilding.
– Once the fire site is released, demolition and reconstruction assessment work will begin, but in practice it will take time to provide an answer as to what this means, the press release said.
The project, which began construction in the spring of 2021, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. Helge Deset, communications director for VG, said estimating the extent of damage to the building would be too soon, and how large the potential delay would be.
– We do not have access to the building yet, so we say very soon.
– Were there any staff in the building when the fire broke out?
– Yes, there were a few staff, but not much during the meal break.
– Sadness
Tsett added that staff are being taken care of after the fire.
– They are fine, but it’s hard to see that the building you worked on is burning.
Diet can not say how much the fire will cost.
– For us as a company, this is definitely sad, but I think it will be sad for those who own ski resorts, apartments and more. Fortunately, no human lives were lost.
Hans Olav Sørlie, executive vice president of Veidekke Bygg, said in a statement that he was “deeply sympathetic” to the fire victims, neighbors and guests at the alpine resort who witnessed the blaze.
– The real cause of the fire can not be said now. But as with all serious incidents, we will do everything we can to find out the reason why this can happen, and prevent things like this from happening again, says Sorley.
Searching for witnesses
Police are investigating the fire. Britt Fixen, the head of the police station in Hallingdale, told Vijay he wanted to contact potential witnesses.
– We are in the process of mapping, but at the moment I can not say what the reason is, says Fixen.
– Now what is interesting to us are the observations of the witnesses. People have taken some pictures about the fire, which can be useful. We’d love to do a forensic investigation, but we’ll wait a little longer until there’s more meat in our bones, which means more information that could shed light on what happened.
Police are particularly interested in the earlier observations made about the fire that started at 4pm on Wednesday.
– Do you suspect any crime?
– I can not say anything about it, but we work from several alternative hypotheses.
According to Fyksen, it will take some time to find the answers they are looking for.
– The case will need to be heard next week as well.
Talk about 30 apartments
Paul Derje Rorby, mayor of the municipality of Hemsdale, tells Vijay that about 30 apartments have been affected by the fire.
– About 30 apartments seem to have been more or less damaged, but we do not know the extent beyond that.
He says the area is surrounded by police and firefighters.
– They are careful to enter the building, and do not tell us in detail which apartments are more or less damaged, says Rorby.
Rørby tells VG that the amount of damage could have been significantly worse.
– Able to control damage based on conditions after great efforts by emergency services. Combined with the powerful fire that occurred, and the relatively strong wind, it could have gone much worse.
Rørby says it means both rental units and freehold apartments are on fire – but the Easter holidays are not in great danger.
– It is clear that this is bad for those who own and operate these apartments, but it will not have the biggest consequences for Hemsett. We have a lot of potential and are ready to receive guests at Easter.
In the same message from developer Solon Eiendom, Veidekke Bygg, they say they are relieved that no human lives have been lost.
– In addition, only the apartment building we were under construction and the neighboring building Stowgate were damaged. Ole Halvor Svenkerud, CEO of Solon Eiendom, says it was a demanding job for the fire service, which put in the hardest effort in the most difficult conditions during strong winds.
In one of the buildings, Telenor had one of its base stations. Fire can lead to poor efficiency in the network, he writes Hollington.
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