A fire is raging in the former Shoe Museum on the Elzenweg in Waalwijk, the Central and West Brabant Safety Region reports. Flames are shooting out of the roof of the vacant building. Asbestos has been released and the fire is causing a lot of smoke. It passes over the center of Waalwijk towards the northeast.
The sky turns orange in the area. An NL-Alert has now been sent to people in the area. Residents are advised to stay away from smoke, close windows and doors and switch off mechanical ventilation.
Asbestos was released during the fire. The fire brigade uses measuring teams to map out where the asbestos particles have landed. “If you see particles lying around, they could also be other particles, for example from insulation material, then stay away from them and leave them behind,” is the fire brigade’s advice.
Seen young people
According to a 112 correspondent on the scene, the story is going around that a number of young people were seen running away just before the fire. A spokesperson for the fire brigade said that it is not known whether any young people were seen. “We are now mainly busy fighting the fire.” The police are not available.
The building consists of eight halls, the front two halls have already almost burned out. The fire brigade reports that a lot of water is needed to extinguish the fire: “The fire brigade will arrange additional water supply with water trucks and by installing a water transport.”
Scaling up to Grip-1
The fire brigade has been scaled up to Grip-1, which means that coordination is required between various emergency services such as fire brigade and police. A coordination center will be set up near the fire for cooperation between the various emergency services.
It is an empty building. According to the fire brigade, no people were injured. There is also no immediate danger to buildings in the area.
The fire brigade is at the fire with eight tankers and two aerial platforms. Two water trucks, a hazardous substances advisor, a duty officer and a chief duty officer have also been called in.
The museum in the building on Elzenweg has been closed to the public since January 2017. A mural can still be seen on the building.