In the municipality of Drammen in southern Norway, 50 kilometers west of Oslo, on Saturday, July 18, the fight against a major fire continues. The media calls it the largest in the country since World War II. The fire, which broke out the previous day, has already destroyed more than 100 residential houses in the village of Krokstadlevå and spread to the nearby forest, according to media company NRK.
Twelve fire engines and two helicopters are working at the site; another four fire helicopters are on the way. About 400 local residents have been evacuated. Ten people were overcome by smoke, two of them were taken to hospital. In addition, one police officer sustained minor injuries.
On the morning of July 18, the inter-municipal fire service of the county of Vestfold wrote on Facebook that the fire had been brought under control. However, firefighting operations will continue throughout the day: there are still several fire spots both in residential development and in the forest.
Forest fires in Europe
Against the backdrop of extremely hot and dry weather in early July, forest fires broke out in Spain, France, Portugal, and Greece. Thousands of people were evacuated, and thousands of hectares of vegetation were destroyed. As a result of a forest fire in the Spanish province of Almería, 13 people died.
More than 1,300 hectares of forest in Fontainebleau near Paris were burned in France. Two people were detained on suspicion of "intentional or accidental arson".