A serious fire at Løvvangskolen in Nørresundby has prompted Aalborg Municipality to contact the Danish Food Administration (Fødevarestyrelsen) to discuss the safety of consuming vegetables and other foods from nearby kitchen gardens and allotment gardens. This was announced by Aalborg Municipality in a press release.
Sunday evening, the closed school was hit by a violent fire, and the subsequent fallout and soot have raised concerns for the municipality. Municipal Director Tommy Christiansen explained that they want to ensure correct guidance for citizens regarding food from the affected gardens. “At the same time, it’s the gardening season, so we want to make sure to provide citizens with the right guidance on the food we have in our gardens and what we should do before eating it. And the Danish Food Administration is the authority that can provide the correct answer,” Tommy Christiansen wrote in a statement.
In connection with this, the municipality has conducted measurements to identify any harmful substances in the soot and fallout from the fire. “Only in the immediate vicinity of the burned buildings has there been a risk of asbestos presence,” Christiansen stated.
Further information from the Danish Food Administration on how residents in the area should deal with food from gardens is expected on Wednesday. The municipality has also examined the condition of four municipal institutions near the fire and assessed that it is safe to wash play equipment before using them again. The ventilation systems in the institutions are also being checked to assess the need for filter changes.
Residents near the school are encouraged to collect fallout from the fire in bags and dispose of it as residual waste. Surfaces and tools should also be washed with soapy water.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday, led the police on Monday to advise residents in the area to stay indoors and turn off ventilation while closing doors and windows. According to duty officer Karsten Højrup from North Jutland Police, the fire is still smoldering, and it will take several days before fire investigators can examine the site. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but the police are working with a hypothesis that it may have been deliberately set.