Fire alarm triggered within minutes of first emergency call

OSLO (Dagbladet) — Two minutes and fourteen seconds after the first emergency call reporting a fire in Krokstadelva, firefighters in Mjøndalen rolled out, according to the incident timeline released by the Drammensregionen fire department.

At 15:35 on Friday 19 July, the emergency line received the first call. Within 21 seconds, standby crews at fire stations in Mjøndalen and Drammen were alerted. The Mjøndalen unit departed 2:14 later, followed 23 seconds afterward by the Drammen unit.

En route across Øvre Sund bridge, the incident commander pressed the full-alarm button, triggering an immediate call-in of all personnel. By 15:38 the department issued a status update: “Major fire in a five-unit terraced block; occupancy status unknown.”

Within eight minutes of arrival, firefighters began tackling flames that ultimately destroyed more than 100 homes and forced the evacuation of over 400 residents. Helicopters dropped more than 800,000 litres of water over the weekend as hundreds of firefighters, civil defence volunteers and police worked to contain the blaze, which also spread into adjacent woodland.

On Tuesday, five days after ignition, authorities declared the fire under control. Residents whose homes were spared have gradually returned, though ongoing suppression work continues in parts of the neighbourhood.