Major Fire in Norway Destroys More Than 100 Homes – Fire Brought Under Control After More Than 12 Hours

Here's what it's all about

• A massive fire has broken out in the small Norwegian town of Krokstadelva.
• More than 100 homes were destroyed by the fire, and 400 people were evacuated. No one was seriously injured.
• On Saturday morning, the fire department reported that it had brought the fire under control.

Summary created with

Update on Saturday morning: The fire department has brought the wildfire under control. According to reports, there are no seriously injured people.

A devastating major fire broke out on Friday afternoon in the small Norwegian town of Krokstadelva. At 3:40 p.m., police first reported a fire in one of the many townhouses in Krokstadelva, according to the local station DRM24 reported. According to the incident commander, the fire spread to the surrounding homes within “a few minutes.”

Despite the deployment of several firefighting helicopters, the fire later spread to the surrounding forest and caused several wildfires.

A Terrible Inferno

“It’s absolutely terrible. We were sitting on the porch and saw the fire break out. Then we had to evacuate in a hurry. We left our belongings, cell phones, and everything else behind. We just had to get out. Now we’re hoping our house remains undamaged,” two residents told TV 2.

About 60 firefighters are currently on the scene. They still haven't brought the fire under control. Additional emergency responders are rushing to the scene from neighboring regions. As the emergency services told Aftenposten strong winds are repeatedly fanning the flames. At 10:00 p.m., the police reported: The fire is out of control. The cause of the fire remains unclear.

Even as the fire spread, emergency responders evacuated hundreds of people. According to media reports, several dozen people have lost their homes. Police say no residents have been injured so far.