On behalf of The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) and the Norwegian Building Authority (DiBK), and in collaboration with the Norwegian Fire Academy (NBSK), we have evaluated the fire in the the multi-storey car park at Stavanger airport Sola, which occurred in January earlier this year. The aim has been to promote national learning points with regard to the extent of the fire, regulations, firefighting efforts, structural design, effects on the environment and the role of electric vehicles in the fire development. These are points that will be relevant to many stakeholders, such as the fire service, authorities, construction design, building owners, and for research in the field.
When reviewing the fire concepts, we have found a number of inconsistencies that indicate that the fire risk has not been fully mapped and assessed in connection with the preparation of the fire concepts.
With regard to the regulations, no deficiencies have been found that are relevant to this incident. However, small adjustments in wording between different versions of regulations (for example, guidelines for technical regulations, VTEK) can have a major impact on how the regulations are to be interpreted. This is important to be aware of when preparing a fire technical concept.
The handling of the incident by the fire service and others during the emergency phase has been evaluated, and learning points have been identified for several areas. We have no basis to believe that any deficiencies in the firefighting effort may have contributed to the fire becoming as large as it did. Nevertheless, areas with potential for improvement have been identified that can be included in training situations.
The contribution of electric cars to the fire received a great deal of media attention after the fire, but our study shows that observations during the fire indicate that electric cars did not contribute to the development of fire beyond what is typical for conventional vehicles.
Full report in Norwegian with English summary (pdf)