There is a hose from the fire brigade over the track, to be able to get water from a river. At around nine o’clock, the flames burst from the roof of the shed with firelighters at De Nedervonder. Around half past ten, the shed is completely on fire. No one was injured.
Around a quarter to eleven, the Safety Region reports that the fire service has deployed more equipment to get the fire under control. “More vehicles, more men: we are putting everything in extra at the moment, because we don’t have it under control yet.” Extra hoses are also being rolled out to collect water from the river. The flames are still shooting out of the roof at the time.
NL-Alert sent
A lot of smoke is released during the fire. Particles fly through the air around the building. At a quarter to eleven an NL-Alert was sent. Local residents are advised to close windows and doors and switch off ventilation.
In the night from Sunday to Monday, the foam installation of the shed went off because there was supposed to be a fire. The fire brigade was then present to check the area. There was no fire then.
According to a spokesperson for the Safety Region, the fire brigade returned the next morning for a follow-up check. “Then they open things up to check. Then the fire flared up again and immediately scaled up to a major fire.” It has now been scaled up to a very large fire.
Four fires in a short time
This is not the first time a fire has broken out at the factory. In June 2013, the Fire-Up building burned down completely. And in September 2019, four fires broke out in just a few days. Part of the building was about to collapse.
According to Fire-Up owner Kees van Opstal, the fires were caused by a different composition of one of the raw materials of the firelighters. As a result, the temperature of the mixing tablets would rise, instead of falling.
It is not clear whether this is now the case. Since the fires, the company has taken several safety measures to prevent overheating in the cubes.
Great concern fire brigade
The fire brigade expressed great concern about Fire-Up after the series of fires. “This can no longer be done,” said officer on duty Sasbout Discount about the situation at the time. “The fear that this will eventually lead to a major fire is present with us. An adapted plan must be made.”
