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“This is big, this is very big.”
The messages going between the connections to fire crews in Nedre Romerike one early Wednesday morning in late December were chaotic.
No one knew what awaited them as they jumped into the cars and headed towards Ask in Gjerdrum.
All they had for information was that there had been a major landslide. At this point, they had no idea whether they had taken houses or people.
TV 2 has obtained access to a video of the dashboard of one of the first cars that moved into the avalanche area.
Watch the dramatic minutes below!
It was dark and snowing a lot. After a few minutes, the car had to stop.
Firefighters were about to go straight into the avalanche and had to backtrack to escape.
– Wild messages
They barely had time to think at their own risk. The whole focus was on saving lives.
– We had to get close to the edge of the avalanche, and we had to save as many as we could in the shortest time possible. And that’s where the big risk came in, because we never knew when the next landslide would come. But we did the best we could to avoid losing our own people, Nedre Romerike’s assistant manager of operations Ingart Andersen in the fire service tells TV 2.
However, it was a long time before the crew realized the scale of the disaster.
THE ROAD DISAPPEARED: Fire crews arrived driving down the road, but had to turn back when they discovered that the landslide had engulfed the road. Photo: Erik Edland / TV 2
– It is more concrete when you go out to a house fire and see that it is burning on the ground floor. Here it was in the middle of the night, it snows a lot, it’s windy and it’s completely dark. Eventually, there were also pretty far-fetched messages about what could be in the landslide, Andersen says.
– Do we dare to do it again?
The risk that the fire brigade took on the brink of the avalanche was enormous and was unlike anything they had lost in the past. Several of those who participated in the rescue operation say it was fortunate that no more lives were lost.
VERY IMPRESSED: Deputy Director of Operations Ingart Andersen says the experience at Gjerdrum is profound. Photo: Erik Edland / TV 2
– At one point, the crew entered an apartment that was right on the edge. When they opened the door, it could be seen that the floor was slipping. When I heard it on the radio, the stress level was a bit high. Then we just had to take the house with us and leave. Because we did not know how much we would run. It really was very close, says Andersen.
Because the risk as a firefighter is extreme and you can face life-threatening situations at work every day.
Respond to additions
So they are now reacting to the fact that this is rewarded with a risk supplement of NOK 26 per hour.
– We have the public’s expectation that we will make a difference. Sometimes we have to do evaluations that can be detrimental to the safety of the crew. But we are willing to take a risk for the public, and then we also have the expectation that the supplement should be in line with what we find in everyday life, says association leader Henrik Knapskog in the fire brigade Nedre Romerike to TV 2.
I WANT MORE: The leader of the association of the fire brigade in Nedre Romerike Henrik Knapskog says that it is an expectation that the risk supplement should increase. Photo: Erik Edland / TV 2
During the spring, the special agreement for firefighters and therefore also the NOK 26 risk supplement will be negotiated.
It is the organization of the Municipal Sector (KS) that negotiates against the firefighters and their unions.
Negotiation leader Torfinn Thomassen told TV 2 that statistics show that firefighters are not more exposed to accidents, injuries and job performance risks than other groups in working life.
– It is also compared to health, care, nurses. Fortunately, firefighters make it quite far on the list, Thomassen tells TV 2.
– The broom for life
NO MORE RISK: Negotiation leader Torfinn Thomassen believes there is no more risk associated with the firefighting profession than other occupations exposed to risk. Photo: Mari Linge Five / TV 2
He says that it is difficult to price risk and therefore believes that it would be wrong to increase the risk premium, as is the situation now.
– There are other mechanisms for that. If they think they should get more pay, then they should go back to the salary agreement. It’s a completely fair way to do it, says Thomassen.
Andersen, deputy director of operations, is still in awe that the rescue operation in Gjerdrum went well.
– It would not have been fun to be me and send the children to the avalanche zone, when several of them could have been injured for life or, in the worst case, killed, says Andersen and continues:
Difficult: It took several days before rescue teams were allowed to enter the landslide area. Photo: Nedre Romerike Fire and Rescue Service.
– But now fortunately we are sitting here, we did not lose anyone and we saved many. Then the calculation will be very simple. But do we dare to do it again? How often can we do this without hurting our people and those we are going to save?
– There is something extra in us
Task leader Andersen believes that many firefighters believe it is an expectation of the public that they must take extreme risk.
– The risk that was taken in Gjerdrum is one of the most extreme things we have done to save lives. But there is something extra in most of us, you also have some hindsight that you have to think about, he says.
EXTREME CONDITIONS: The working conditions of the rescue teams in the avalanche pit at Gjerdrum were extreme and the risk taken was enormous. Photo: Erik Edland / TV 2
Although the experienced firefighter wants more risk supplements, he realizes that the risk to which he is exposed is ultimately worth it.
– It’s okay to think about knowing that others can continue to live thanks to a job you’ve done, says Andersen.
