The wildfire in Ørland, Norway, started on February 7th 2026, and burned over 200 ha during the night, threatening about 18 buildings, of which one ignited. In this report we give an overview of weather drivers and factors limiting building damage.
Weather drivers: A long snow-free period of dry katabatic winds from the Scandes mountains dried out the dormant vegetation just as a surge in strong winds occurred during the evening of February 7th. Fire danger, in terms of Initial Spread Index (ISI), was classified as very extreme just after ignition, leading to rapid flame spread.
Vegetation comprised open heathland dominated by heather, crowberry, and moss, interspersed with small groves of birch and conifers. Surface fuels (particularly heather) were highly flammable, and firebrands bridged fuel gaps with spot ignitions over 200 meters.
Building damage: A building was destroyed, but several measures prevented the ignition of dwellings and other buildings. Flame contact and firebrand vulnerability was reduced by active measures such as pre-wetting, suppression of fires and fire breaks, and passive preventive measures such as vegetation management, tidy gardens and well-maintained buildings with non-combustible foundations or surrounding gravel.
Funding: This study is funded by the WildfireSafe project (National Research Foundation of South Africa - NOSA240308208391 and the Research Council of Norway - 352949) and the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency (MSB2023_05749).
This report is available in both English (RISE report 2026:23) and Norwegian language (RISE report 2026:24). [the Norwegian report and summary is not yet ready, but will be published soon]
You may find the full report (pdf) in English here: https://risefr.no/media/publikasjoner/upload/2026/rise-report-2026-23-wildfire-orland.pdf