Emergency services were notified of a fire in the roof construction of the Moa shopping center in Ålesund at around 01:30 on Monday night – police in Møre og Romsdal reported that the fire had been extinguished at around 02:00.
People outside the shopping center reported the fire.
– Open fire and smoke reported. It is a very large shopping centre, Tor Andre Gram Franck, operations manager at the Møre and Romsdal police district, tells NRK.
The shopping center is one of the largest in the country.
At one point the fire broke out from the roof of the shopping centre.
Photo: Silje Steinnes Bjerknes / NRK
A person who was working in the building managed to get out on his own when the fire broke out.
– The man was at work but had nothing to do with the fire incident, says Karl Jonas Volen, incident leader at the Møre og Romsdal police district.
The shopping center suffered major damage as a result of the fire and extinguishing work, says Karl Jonas Wollen, incident leader of the police.
Photo: Silje Steinnes Bjerknes / NRK
Check for video surveillance
Police forensic technicians will carry out investigations at the scene to determine the cause of the fire.
Volen says it’s too early to say anything about the cause of the fire. He says an investigation will be conducted to see if there was video surveillance at the site and if it can shed light on how the fire started.
The investigation will reveal whether the fire started on the outside of the roof or inside the roof structure.
– We will investigate the matter and talk to those who were at the scene before the fire, says Wolan.
Major damage
The fire is external and should not spread to any shops in the shopping centre.
– but there is considerable smoke and water damage in the building, fire chief Sindre Egenez tells NRK
Internal damage to the building is caused by water. The fire appeared to be on the roof and in an office building.
– It looks like the roof is on fire, says Egenes.
The fire broke out in the same part of the building as the cinema and activity park.
A section of the shopping center will be blocked for an extended period.
Firefighters tackle a fire on the roof of the Moa shopping center in Ålesund.
Firefighters from four different fire stations rushed to the mall.
– Agnes says there were probably 45-50 of us in the emergency team that went out on this fire.
After the fire was extinguished, the crew agreed to the remaining value of the insurance.
– We try to save as much value as we can, says Sindre Egenez, head of work from the fire department.
Photo: Silje Steinnes Bjerknes / NRK
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