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Shortly after 3.30 pm on Sunday, the SOS Alarm was alerted that there were open flames on a pile of wood chips on a plot belonging to Eon in Händelö. The rescue service rushed to the scene and was soon able to establish that the fire was extensive. It was burned in several piles of wood chips and a great effort was started to stop the spread.
– They are giant stacks of potato chips with which you shoot in a pan. There are many people at the scene, said the internal commander of the rescue service, Mikael Kalered, at an early stage.
Personnel from various stations were dispatched to the scene to overcome the fire. In the afternoon, the rescue leader also made the decision to request help from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, which sent four helicopters from Västerås to Norrköping. They bombarded the fire with water from the air throughout the night.
At 1:00 p.m., the water bombardment stopped. The rescue service stated that the reason was that the pilots needed to refuel and rest. Fighting the fire from the air will resume in the morning, says the rescue service.
A VMA call was sent out, an important message to the public, and surrounding residents were advised to close windows, doors and vents to avoid contact with heavy smoke.
Björn Persson, Eon’s regional director, was present at the fire in the afternoon.
– In all probability, the fire occurred during the development of heat in batteries. Of course we measure continuously, but then we have to investigate what has happened, he said.
He explained that the piles of wood chips were meant to be burned in the heating plant.
– A lot of fuel has been used as fuel for something it was not designed for.
Could this affect you in the long run?
– We do not believe that there is a great concern about it. We have a lot of fuel in stock. We have no production difficulties based on this. It shouldn’t have to affect our customers, based on the fact that you don’t have to get water or heat for the elements, he said.
During Sunday night, the fire spread to a pile of wood. According to the rescue service, there was also a risk that nearby buildings could be affected by the fire.
– There is also the risk of spreading to other buildings. There are many industries there. We work full time to limit what is burned, said Mikael Kalered.
His colleague from the rescue service, Ulf Asplund, explained the challenge of facing a fire like this.
– There are huge amounts of material that can be burned. The challenge will be to put out the fire and then move the material in order to put it out even more. We have to do that. It is not enough to spray water on the batteries. We have to put out the fire and then move the material. And then turn it off again. And move more material.
Doesn’t it just work to spray water on the sink?
– No. If we do, the water will evaporate in a day and we will have a new fire. We have to go further down the hill, he said.
The rescue service estimates that its personnel may need to stay at the scene up to three days in advance, as the fire is difficult to extinguish.
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