Fire rips through Norwegian salmon farmer's new buildings

The police have launched an investigation, bringing in a specialist crime scene unit although at this stage it must be stressed the cause is still unknown.

It was a major outbreak, at Tysnes, south of Bergen, affecting most of what are still fairly new buildings which were either destroyed or very badly damaged. There were no injuries.

The outbreak brought in crews from at least four firefighting centres along with a coastguard vessel.

Due to strong winds, the fire also lay a blanket of smoke over the entire area for at least three hours, cutting down visibility.

The buildings have been under construction for several years, and were nearing completion when the fire broke out, said the local newspaper Bladet Tysnes.

The outbreak was reported around lunchtime on Saturday after a member of the public saw smoke coming from one of the buildings.

It is not yet known how the incident will affect production but because the buildings were still largely unoccupied, serious disruption may be avoided.

They belong to the fish farming group Alsaker Fjordbruk AS which was formed in the 1980s and has grown impressively to become one of Norway’s leading salmon farmers when it comes to production. The company farms salmon and supplies eggs and fry.

The group has a capacity of approximately 42 million fry and food fish production, based on 24 concessions.