Fire at Norway Airport destroys hundreds of cars, grounds planes

A major parking-garage fire at an airport on Norway’s west coast destroyed hundreds of cars, grounded air traffic and led to an evacuation of the facilities.

The fire, which started Tuesday afternoon and spread to several floors of the garage, was partly contained by 9:30 p.m. local time, Norwegian news agency NTB reported, citing police. There were no reports of injuries from the fire on the outskirts of Stavanger, a city about 550 kilometers (340 miles) driving distance from the capital city of Oslo.

Fire fighters were still working to extinguish the blaze in the evening, and there was a risk the building could collapse, NTB reported, citing emergency services.

Hundreds of cars were destroyed in the fire, according to local newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad. The vehicle garage in question has capacity for 3,000 cars and was nearly full when the fire started, according to broadcaster NRK.

The cause is unknown and under investigation, but local police said they were notified at about 3:30 p.m. that an electric car was on fire in the parking garage. Norway has the most electric vehicles on the road per capita in the world.

All flights from Sola, as the airport is known, were canceled for the rest of the day, Avinor, the government-owned company that operates the airport, said on its website. It didn’t provide any details on when air traffic would resume, saying only that passengers should check flight information on the website.

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who earlier in the day attended the official opening of the Johan Sverdrup oil field in the North Sea off the shore of Stavanger, said on Twitter her delegation was forced to change plans and drive back to Oslo, the capital, after the flight was canceled.