Norwegian Bells Helicopter scramble to fight historic fire

The choppers from 720 Skvadron arrived at the scene at 09:40 local time, when about a hundred civilian fire-fighters were still not in full control of the flames that destroyed at least 30 buildings, took out the power grid and destroyed all 13 mobile and land line telecommunication base stations in the area.
The Norwegian Bells can carry a sling bag underneath their belly to drop large quantities of water directly on a spot.
Much needed after fire-fighters from 10 different stations battled since 22:40 Saturday night to protect the historic Laerdalsøyri. The village has the biggest concentration of typical Norwegian wooden houses from the 1700s and 1800s after UNESCO World Heritage village Røros further east.

Apart from the two Bell 412SPs the RNoAF also deployed one of its vulnerable 330 Skvadron Sea King medevac helicopters from Florø. It flew in three doctors to help treat the wounded and flew out six patients to the hospital in Førde. On the ground the Norwegian national guard (Heimevarnet) deployed 44 soldiers to shield off and guard the fire stricken areas. 

The rescue services declared the fire under control at 17:00 local time on Sunday. Experts already deem the 2014 Laerdalsøyri fire as a historic one, with the lessons learned in fire-fighting and fire-prevention will have an impact on many other wooden historic areas in Norway.