PLAY: It was dramatic for a long time when it was reported that the grass fire on Madsøya on Leka had started and that residents had been evacuated. Both the fire helicopter and the Civil Defense were called to assist in the extinguishing work.
“There must be 10-15 targets that have burned. Three people have been evacuated from a residential building south of Madsøya. The fire helicopter has just arrived on the scene”the police stated at 16.03.
Nord-Trøndelag civil defense district is now assisting the local fire service with extinguishing the grass fire at Leka.
– The Norwegian Civil Defense provides 12 people from the response department at Vikna and two people from the response department from Namsos. The departments have fire-fighting equipment, ATVs and a tent as a command post for the incident leader, says Geir Gansmo, emergency guard in Nord-Trøndelag civil defense district.
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At 17:25, the police operations center reports that the fire helicopter has been very effective in extinguishing the fire, and that the fire crew has control of the building now.
At 20:31, the control center reports that the situation is still being monitored, and that work is being done to prevent the spread of the fire throughout the evening.
And at 22.22: “The fire is now completely out.” The police leave the scene. Firefighters remain on site to monitor and prevent flare-ups. Several hundred targets have burned.”
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Got up – had to call fire helicopter
Just after the fire brigade had extinguished a grass fire on the north side of Leka earlier in the day, they received a report of a new grass and heather fire in the same municipality, this time further south-east, on Madsøya. Madsøya has a bridge connection with the main island of Leka.
“Emergency services on their way. No immediate danger of spread to buildings”the police said at 1:52 p.m.
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At 15.12 the police reported that the fire on Madsøya had started. A fire helicopter was sent from Værnes and the Civil Defense was asked to assist with crews to extinguish the fire.
Keeping the power for now
There was a long-standing danger that Tensio would have to cut off the electricity at Leka as a result of putting out the fire.
– The way it looks now, it doesn’t look like we need to disconnect the power, says press officer Ole Marius Ingvaldsen in Tensio to NA at 19.30.
The reason for that is that the extinguishing has taken place with the intake of a submarine cable, and not over where the power line runs, he explains. The firefighting helicopter has not had to fly over the power line either.
– So right now we are looking at it a bit more positively, regarding the electricity. But it is difficult to say anything for sure in such a situation – things can still happen, says Ingvaldsen.
Witness: – Just developed
Bjørn Sigurd Larsen lives at Borg på Leka, just opposite Madsøya.
– We look directly over the fire, approximately 400 meters as the crow flies from where we live. It started an hour ago and has only developed, Larsen told NA at 2.20pm.
At that point, he believed he saw emergency services arrive at the scene.
– There is some blinking now. But it’s not good to say, it smells good, says Larsen.
– Do you know if there are people in the area?
– No, I don’t know if there are people there now.
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– Very dry in the area
Cohabitant and former Leka mayor Elisabeth Helmersen says that the smoke is all over the strait between Leka and Madsøya, and that it looks like it is spreading.
– It is burning on the south side of Madsøya, i.e. on the side facing Gravvik and the mainland. We don’t see much of the flames from where we live, but it is clear that there is a large area on fire, she tells Trønder-Avisa.
– How dry is it in the area now?
– It is very dry, it has not rained for a long time, says Helmersen.
Residents evacuated
Linda Beate Ressem Johansen is on Madsøya.
– We are now waiting for a helicopter with a water bag, she said at 3.14pm.
She tells NA that those living in Tangan have now been evacuated and are safe.
– Initially, they were evacuated due to the smoke, she says.
Ressem Johansen was also close to the fire that broke out on the north side of Leka earlier in the day:
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Linda Beate saw the extent of the grass fire up close
Tags: Fire Leka Fire helicopter assists extinguishing control building
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