Experience gained from 15 years of fire protection plans for Nordic wooden towns in Norway

Martin Kristoffersen,Torgrim Log

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105535

Martin Kristoffersen, Torgrim Log

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105535

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Abstract

There is a genuine will to protect Nordic wooden towns in Norway, as they are considered national heritage and an important part of the urban identity. The fire protection of wooden heritage towns is an ongoing cooperation between private owners, who are required to keep their property up to codes, and the authorities who works to limit the residual conflagration risk. The present study systemizes national fire protection initiatives and present successes and challenges. Research literature, legal framework, and municipality fire safety site plans were analyzed. Personnel from involved municipalities, fire services and national directorates were interviewed. Compared to other countries, Norway has indeed come a long way regarding practical fire mitigating measures. In year 2000, the first fire safety plans dedicated to protecting wooden towns were developed. In 2014, 25% of the wooden towns had fire safety plans, and in 2020, 60%. Status as national heritage and thus, financial support from the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, was the most important success factor. Measures were often not evaluated prior to implementation, partly due to lack of horizontal knowledge sharing between the municipalities involved. Important lessons have thus been gained separately, and not shared. Smoke detection alarming the fire brigades directly is documented to have prevented major heritage losses. The most common firefighting challenges were related to locating and accessing fires in cavities. Through clearer wording in regulations, and better knowledge sharing, fire protection could be improved with limited additional costs.

Highlights

The Nordic wooden towns could be considered an anachronism already in the 19th century, as the rest of Europe had introduced mandatory brick buildings in city centers
Fire safety plans dedicated to help protecting dense wooden heritage sites in Norway were first introduced in year 2000 and have since resulted in increasing focus on heritage fire protection
Common features of the municipalities who succeeded with fire safety plans and concrete fire safety measures, are that they had worked systematically over a long period, i.e. typically 10+ years and distrib uted the responsibility for the different fire protection sub-tasks within their organization

Summary

Introduction

The Nordic wooden towns could be considered an anachronism already in the 19th century, as the rest of Europe had introduced mandatory brick buildings in city centers. After the 1904 Ålesund fire, i.e. the most severe fire disaster in Norwegian history (Losnegård, 2013), new wooden buildings were prohibited in the towns. Modernist urban planning in the 50s and 60s sought to demolish and redevelop wooden structure areas in several towns, often contributing to neglect and decay of the affected areas. During the 70s, especially the young population along with the heritage authorities, gradually started valuing the wooden town areas. Small wooden settlements and town centers are associated with the Scandinavian “hygge” concept, meaning they are perceived as cozy and trendy. Few countries have as high proportion of old wooden towns as Norway

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