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Forest fires cause rail chaos in Norway

Train cancellations due to forest fire have caused major transport delays as Norwegian rail operator NSB struggles to find enough replacement buses.

Published: 2 July 2018 15:36 CEST
Forest fires cause rail chaos in Norway
Helicopters take part in the firefighting operation over Nittedal. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB scanpix

The state-owned rail operator advised commuters in the area served by the Gjøvikbanen line to work from home on Monday where possible, news agency NTB reports.

The fire, which broke out on the  line between Sandermosen in Oslo and Hakadal on Sunday, is now under control, but services were still suspended on Monday.

“In the area south of Oslo city limits, where we are working, things are under control. We have two fire engines at the scene in control of extinguishing the fire,” Oslo emergency services lead coordinator Hans Kristian Steen told NTB early Monday morning.

Also on Sunday, at around 8pm, fire began to spread further north, in the Nittedal municipality. After a considerable blaze in the region, the flames were reported as being under control again on Monday.

“We had an extensive operation in Nittedal. There were fires on the same route at the same time in Oslo, so we were unable to get much support,” emergency services operator Mads Østebøvik told NTB.

The fires caused infrastructure agency Bane Nor to announce on Sunday that the Gjøvikbanen line was closed. The closure remained in place on Monday afternoon with an update expected at 9pm, according to Bane Nor’s website.

Replacement bus services have been brought in to take over from trains in a number of areas, but NSB has admitted it is struggling to provide adequate cover.

“We are already using 300 buses due to other planned works. We have been making calls all night in order to reallocate, but have not been as successful as we would have liked,” NSB’s head press officer Åge-Christoffer Lundeby told Dagbladet.

Lundeby said that long delays and waiting times could be expected, but that the situation would improve during the course of Monday. Nevertheless, those able to work from home would be better off avoiding a commute along the affected line, he said.

READ ALSO: Hot summer to hit Norwegian north with 20 degrees in Arctic Circle: forecast

WILDFIRES

France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Firefighting teams and equipment from six EU nations started to arrive in France on Thursday to help battle a spate of wildfires, including a fierce blaze in the parched southwest that has forced thousands to evacuate.

Published: 12 August 2022 08:48 CEST
France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Most of the country is sweltering under a summer heatwave compounded by a record drought – conditions most experts say will occur more often as a result of rapid climate change.

“We must continue, more than ever, our fight against climate disruption and … adapt to this climate disruption,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said after arriving at a fire command post in the village of Hostens, south of Bordeaux.

The European Commission said four firefighting planes would be sent to France from Greece and Sweden, as well as teams from Austria, Germany, Poland and Romania.

“Our partners are coming to France’s aid against the fires. Thank you to them. European solidarity is at work!” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

“Across the country over 10,000 firefighters and security forces are mobilised against the flames… These soldiers of fire are our heroes,” he said.

In total, 361 foreign firefighters were  dispatched to assist their 1,100 French colleagues deployed in the worst-hit part of the French southwest.

A first contingent of 65 German firefighters, followed by their 24 vehicles, arrived Thursday afternoon and were to go into action at dawn Friday, officials said.

Among eight major fires currently raging, the biggest is the Landiras fire in the southwest Gironde department, whose forests and beaches draw huge tourist crowds each summer.

It had already burned 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) in July – the driest month seen in France since 1961 – before being contained, but it continued to smoulder in the region’s tinder-dry pine forests and peat-rich soil.

Since flaring up again Tuesday, which officials suspect may have been caused by arson, it has burned 7,400 hectares, destroyed or damaged 17 homes, and forced 10,000 people to quit their homes, said Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Mendousse of the Gironde fire and rescue service.

Borne said nine firefighting planes are already dumping water on the blaze, with two more to be in service by the weekend.

“Gigantic”
“We battled all night to stop the fire from spreading, notably to defend the village of Belin-Beliet,” Mendousse told journalists in Hostens.

On several houses nearby, people hung out white sheets saying: “Thank you for saving our homes” and other messages of support for the weary fire battalions.

“You’d think we’re in California, it’s gigantic… And they’re used to forest fires here but we’re being overwhelmed on all sides — nobody could have expected this,” Remy Lahlay, a firefighter deployed near Hostens in the Landes de Gascogne natural park, told AFP.

With temperatures in the region hitting nearly 40C on Thursday and forecast to stay high until at least Sunday, “there is a very serious risk of new outbreaks” for the Landiras fire, the prefecture of the Gironde department said.

Acrid smoke has spread across much of the southwestern Atlantic coast and its beaches that draw huge crowds of tourists each summer, with the regional ARS health agency “strongly” urging people to wear protective face masks.

The smoke also forced the closing of the A63 motorway, a major artery toward Spain, between Bordeaux and Bayonne.

The government has urged employers to allow leaves of absence for volunteer firefighters to help fight the fires.

Meanwhile, in Portugal, more than 1,500 firefighters were also battling a fire that has raged for days in the mountainous Serra da Estrela natural park in the centre of the country.

It has already burned 10,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

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