A fire has caused some water damage to the Deichman Bjørvika Library in Oslo. Police have not arrested anyone yet but are still continuing their investigation.
Sofa fire sparks sprinkler system to release thousands of liters of water
The brand new Deichman Bjørvika Library has suffered water damage due to a fire started on the third floor. The fire was believed to have started on a sofa, on the third floor, at approximately 9:30 PM on Tuesday, February 7. It is unclear when the library will reopen after the sprinkler system released several thousand liters of water. Some 1.000 square meters of the library have been affected, according to the newspaper Avisa Oslo.
Police have been alerted to the fire which saw the library evacuated, with some 600 people, late on Tuesday night. No one has been arrested yet but police have been interviewing witnesses and collecting video camera footage as part of their ongoing investigation.
Unsure when library will reopen, more work to be done
Jørn Johansen, communications director at Deichmann, was unsure when the library will reopen its door. Talking to NTB he admitted “We do not know when we can open yet. We have to open up the floors and see how it is. Then things have to get dry. We will open as soon as we can and probably know more during the day.”
Most of the books on the third and the fourth floor have been salvaged and work has already started to repair the damage done. Johansen was pleased that the sprinkler system worked but also that no one was hurt during the incident.
He did note to NTB that there is still possible structural work to be done. He set a cautious tone as “From the outside, it does not look so bad, but we do not know what damage there is to the building construction and electronics that are in the floors.”
The library opened in Spring 2020 and has won critical praise both in Norway and abroad.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel.
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