Thirteen buses parked at a bus yard at Borgeskogen in Stokke, Vestfold County, were destroyed and two more damaged by fire during the night. An investigation was launched into how the fire could have started.
“We don’t know anything about the cause of the blaze yet, but police are in place and will start an investigation,” Jens Petter Bærland of the Vestfold Police District told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
The fire was first reported just before 1am and firefighters arrived quickly at the bus yard in an industrial area of Stokke. There was danger the fire could spread to office buildings in the area, but it was extinguished by 2am.
Jack Larsen, operating chief for Unibuss, estimated the value of the damage at well over NOK 20 million, since each new bus costs up to NOK 2 million (USD 320,000). Larsen, who was summoned to the scene from his home in Larvik, said he had no idea how the fire could have started. “It’s very unusual that it would burn in so many buses,” he added.
Ten of the buses serve Unibuss’ regularly scheduled service between Stokke and Tønsberg but Larsen said service wouldn’t be disrupted after the company quickly managed to call in replacements from elsewhere in the route system.
newsinenglish.no staff
