Evaluering av brann i parkeringshus på Stavanger lufthavn Sola 7. januar 2020

This report is commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) and theNorwegian Building Authority (DiBK). RISE Fire Research has been commissioned to evaluatethe fire in the multi-storey car park at Stavanger airport Sola on the 7th January 2020. The aim isto promote learning points for public benefit with regard to the extent of the fire, regulations,extinguishing efforts, structural design, effects on the environment and the role of electric vehiclesin the fire development. Information has been collected via interviews, on-site inspection, contactwith stakeholders, review of relevant regulations, documents and literature. Design of the building: Active, passive and organizational fire protection measures have beenevaluated. In our opinion, the multi-storey car park should have been placed in Fire class 4(“brannklasse 4”), since it was adjacent to important infrastructure for society. The fire designdocumentation for building stages B and C has shortcomings in terms of assessment of sectioning,installation of fire alarm or extinguishing systems, as well as assessment of the fire resistance ofthe loadbearing structure. There are a number of inconsistencies that indicate that the fire risk hasnot been fully mapped and assessed in connection with the preparation of the fire concepts. Regulations: No deficiencies were found in the regulations relevant to this incident. Smalladjustments in wording between different editions of regulations (e.g. guidance for technicalregulations) can have a major impact on how the regulations should be interpreted. It is importantthat the authorities highlight such changes and that the fire consultant who develop a fireengineering concept avoid uncritical reuse of content from older fire concepts. Handling of the incident: How the fire service and other parties handled the incident during theemergency phase has been evaluated, and learning points have been identified for the followingareas (details in section 7.3): The basis for creating national learning after major events, actionplans, exercise and training, collaboration and common situational understanding, managementtools, call-out, information sharing and initial situation report, immediate measures, the goal ofthe effort and tactical plan, organization of the site, communication and collaboration, logisticsand depots, as well as handling uncertainties and follow-up. Electric vehicles: Water analyses of selected metals relevant for batteries in electric vehicles didnot show any lithium, and only low concentrations of cobalt. This indicates that batteries inelectric vehicles did not contribute to pollution of nearby water resources. Observations duringthe fire indicate that electric vehicles did not contribute to the fire development beyond what isexpected from conventional vehicles. Further technical studies of the batteries from the burnedelectric and hybrid vehicles are necessary to evaluate whether batteries from electric vehicleswere involved in the fire. Environmental impact, extinguishing foam: During the incident, a lot of extinguishing foamwas used, but this led to a limited environmental impact. The extinguishing foam was found notto add substantial amounts of PFAS during the extinguishing efforts. Analyses conducted byCOWI still show PFAS content in all water samples, which is linked to previous emissions.Oxygen depletion as a result of release of extinguishing foam is considered to have led to local toxic effects on the aquatic environment, but not a general negative effect on the sea life inSolavika. There is a need for stronger awareness of, and focus on the use of, extinguishing foamsand logging of the amount of foam used. Here one may learn from Sweden. Environmental impact, smoke: Smoke from the fire was mainly not driven in the direction ofthe terminal buildings, and during the first period only in the direction of areas with lowpopulation density. The fire smoke affected the evacuation of a nearby hotel. Eventually, the windturned in the direction of areas with higher population density, and a population warning was sentout. Based on few health consultations (11 at the emergency room and 2 in hospital), as well asthe municipality’s assessment of the incident, it is assumed that the fire smoke had limited healthconsequences for neighbours. The smoke content has not been analyzed. Finally; learning points from evaluation of the fire are relevant for many stakeholders, such as thefire service, authorities, construction design, for the owner and for research in the field.