Polygon cleans up at Gardemoen

In the mid-March, a fire broke out in a large office complex connected to Oslo’s Gardemoen airport, and Polygon Oslo Nord was called in to lend a hand. Together with colleagues from other parts of the Group, they have since then been responsible for a highly successful cleanup and restoration.

The fire started in a ventilation system in a 3,000 square meter building at Gardermoen containing a total of 80 rooms. The fire fighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, but by then smoke and soot had already caused major damage to both the equipment and property.

Ståle Karlsen, Unit Manager at Polygon Oslo Nord, and a team of some ten colleagues were mobilized to measure the extent of the damage.

“There was soot everywhere. On the walls, ceiling, floors, furniture, file cabinets, server rooms, computers and other technical equipment.”

After two days a measurement they started the process of restoring the building and its contents in a major assignment worth several million euros . Or as Ståle said it:

“It was really just a normal cleanup job, but on a much bigger scale.”

To make sure that nothing was left to chance in this important task, Ståle decided to utilize the capacity for collaboration that has given Polygon a unique position in the market.

“To ensure the best possible results in restoring all the advanced technical equipment, we contacted POLYGONVATRO in Germany, which immediately sent a group of specialists in this area.”

The German colleagues stayed for two weeks and left behind a job very well done. Due to the size of the assignment, Ståle Karlsen also had to call in colleagues from Polygon in Hamar and Stavanger. At most, there were some 20 technicians working together in this challenging cleanup project. The special conditions at the site also meant that the workdays were longer than planned.

“Because we were working so close to the airport, the safety regulations were rigorous. Every morning and evening, all of our technicians had to pass through a security check,” says Ståle.

Polygon’s damage restoration job at Gardemoen is now nearing completion. And so far, everything has gone according to plan.

“The customer was initially a little skeptical and expressed some concern about how we would manage the advanced restoration of technical equipment and ventilation systems. Now they have instead let us know that they are more satisfied with the results than they had dared to hope,” concludes Ståle Karlsen.