Norway Cheese Fire Shuts Down Road Tunnel

A road tunnel in northern Norway will be shut for several weeks after a 27-ton truckload of sweet goat’s milk cheese caught fire.

Regional traffic department chief Geir Joergensen says flames engulfed the tunnel last week and gases from the melting, brown load hindered firefighters. It took four days to put it out.

The driver was not hurt and no other vehicles were in the 3.6-kilometer (2.2-mile) tunnel at the time.

Joergensen said Wednesday that the tunnel near the small Arctic municipality of Tysfjord, some 1,350 kilometers (840 miles) north of the capital, Oslo, likely will be closed for two more weeks.

Goat’s milk cheese, a sweet delicacy with a high sugar and fat content, is an essential part of many Norwegians’ daily diet.