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16 January 2026
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Two Norwegian firefighters died in a structure fire in Verdal
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On Sunday, 7 January 2026, two firefighters died inside a fully involved structure fire in the town of Verdal in Norway. At 02:01am, the call came in. They responded with four units and 11 firefighters - three units from the local station in Verdal and one unit from another station. With just three miles to the scene, the first on scene units were able to quickly start an attack. An interior attack crew went inside. They lost contact to that group at 2:50am. The fire had evolved that no other crews were able to go inside and search for the interior attack crew.
Fire crews worked through the night and into the next evening, eventually finding the bodies of the two lost firefighters in the burnt-down ruins of the house at approximately 22:00.
Residents were able to evacuate themselves.
The two firefighters were 51-year-old Roger Kvello Hansen and 58-year-old Geir Otto Lein Johnson, two very experienced firefighters which were doing interior attacks for years already.
Roger Kvello Hansen was shift leader and teacher at the middle school and was employed at the Fire Department since 1999.
Geir Otto Lein Johnson is employed as chimney sweeper with the Fire Department for more than 20 years.
Police forensics and Directorate of Civil Protection are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The Fire Station in Verdal is part of the intercommunal fire department Central, with eight stations and two depots covering seven municipalities with 12,600km²/4,865sq mi and 52,000 inhabitants. 183 people are working at Fire Department Central
These two line of duty deaths included, there were a total of five LODD in Norway in the past 25 years.
Sources: Paul Frenzel, Sweden Herald
Fire crews worked through the night and into the next evening, eventually finding the bodies of the two lost firefighters in the burnt-down ruins of the house at approximately 22:00.
Residents were able to evacuate themselves.
The two firefighters were 51-year-old Roger Kvello Hansen and 58-year-old Geir Otto Lein Johnson, two very experienced firefighters which were doing interior attacks for years already.
Roger Kvello Hansen was shift leader and teacher at the middle school and was employed at the Fire Department since 1999.
Geir Otto Lein Johnson is employed as chimney sweeper with the Fire Department for more than 20 years.
Police forensics and Directorate of Civil Protection are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The Fire Station in Verdal is part of the intercommunal fire department Central, with eight stations and two depots covering seven municipalities with 12,600km²/4,865sq mi and 52,000 inhabitants. 183 people are working at Fire Department Central
These two line of duty deaths included, there were a total of five LODD in Norway in the past 25 years.
Sources: Paul Frenzel, Sweden Herald
