Tone witnessed his childhood home burn

– Completely unreal, says Tone Totlandsdal about the fire in his parents’ house in Alver.

– It is completely unreal, says Tone Totlandsdal (50).

She grew up in the house that burned down in Lyngmarka in Alver. She received many calls and messages from people in the area telling about the fire.

– We got into the car and drove here, says Totlandsdal.

She has not made contact with her parents, who are on holiday in Florida.

The granddaughter of the house owners, Maja Totlandsdal (17), finds it sad to see the fire-damaged house.

– They were very happy in their home. This will be a shock for them, she says of her grandparents.

Was a risk of spread

The fire service went out on Saturday morning after receiving a report of smoke in the detached house in Alver municipality.

– Heavy smoke has been reported at the site, and there is a risk of it spreading to nearby homes, said duty commander Helge Lund at the 110 center at 11am.

The fire brigade moved out with crews from several stations.

– When we arrived at the scene, there was heavy smoke and open flames on the first floor, says fire service leader Christer Skei.

– The smoke spilled out

Benedikte Olsen lives in the house directly across the road. She was sitting on the terrace eating breakfast when the police called and told her that there was a fire in the four-person house where she lives.

It turned out that the police initially had the wrong address.

Olsen rushed out together with his partner and children.

– Then we saw that the house next door was fully engulfed in flames. We saw flames and smoke pouring out.

She did not know at the time that the married couple who live there had moved away.

– I got scared.

– But luckily the house was empty, she says.

Not sure what the cause is

It was initially unknown whether there were people inside the home or not. The fire brigade went in with smoke divers to search for people and animals.

Eventually, the police and fire brigade were informed that the house owners were abroad, and that there were no people in the home.

The cause of the fire is still uncertain.

At 11.38 the fire service declared the fire extinguished.

– The home is uninhabitable. There is heavy fire damage on the first floor and heavy smoke damage on the second floor, says Skei.

According to the incident leader from the police, the homeowners were both shocked and surprised when they received the message about the fire.

The fire service is now working on extinguishing and checking the scene.