The police are asking for tips and video

Investigator Therese Sagstad wants the public’s help after the fire in Birkelundsbakken on Monday evening.

Police Superintendent Sagstad is investigating the block fire in Birkelundsbakken.

According to her, a female witness has said that she saw someone running in the area around 10.30pm on Monday, but that it is currently unknown where they came from and where they were going.

– So it is not certain that it is relevant. But we want them to contact us if they recognize themselves in the description.

She emphasizes that the police want to hear from anyone who has observations. This applies both to the development of the fire and any people or vehicles they have seen in the area.

Crime technicians

– Is there anything you are sitting on that indicates that this could be arson?

– We still have all hypotheses open. We have not yet carried out technical examinations of the apartment. Crime scene technicians are going out. It will happen on Thursday at the earliest, says Sagstad.

The fire investigator will not say anything about who lives in the fire apartment or where they have been. No people were found in the apartment.

Sagstad is also appealing for motorists who drove in the area between 10.00pm and 11.00pm on Monday and who have surveillance on the car who may have filmed the fire or people.

The prosecutor responsible for the case, police attorney Silje Åsnes, puts it this way:

– We would like people who are on video from Birkelundsbakken or Birkelundstoppen or the upper part of Nattlandsveien in the period between 22 and 23 to contact the police.

Åsnes says that the cause of the fire is so far uncertain.

– May have caught on

– Was the apartment that was on fire locked?

– It is still unknown. When the fire brigade arrived, it was engulfed in flames. That is why we now want to contact witnesses who may have caught the fire early in the course. It is not certain that they discovered the fire themselves, but that the video camera may have caught it. We encourage you to review such recordings.

She also wants homeowners in the area who have cameras on their property or on parked cars to examine them.

– If this is lit and someone has run, such cameras may have caught it.