Driver extinguishes car fire in Hvalfjörður Tunnel

A driver extinguished a car fire in the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, a road tunnel, before firefighters arrived, mbl.is reported. Two adults and one child were in the vehicle, and no one was injured.

The fire broke out in a several-year-old SUV as it was being driven uphill on the northern side of the tunnel. The vehicle appears to have suffered an engine failure, according to Jens Ragnarsson, chief of the Akranes and Hvalfjarðarsveit fire service.

The driver used a fire extinguisher from the tunnel to put out the flames. Firefighters then entered the tunnel to secure the scene and clean up oil and other substances that had leaked from the vehicle after it was removed.

The car was left unroadworthy, with extensive damage around the engine compartment.

Firefighters were called at 7.06pm. One fire engine was dispatched, while another was kept ready. The first vehicle was almost at the tunnel when the emergency services received word that the fire had already been extinguished.

Ragnarsson said fires of this kind were not common in the tunnel, although vehicles occasionally caught fire there. He said people should try to respond during the first few minutes if they believed they could handle the fire, but only if doing so would not endanger themselves or others.