A fire is raging at a compost company on the Moerdijk industrial estate. The fire brigade is on site with many vehicles to fight the fire. This is reported by the Central and West Brabant Safety Region. A thick cloud of smoke could be seen. Around a quarter to three there is much less smoke. The safety region advises local residents to close their windows and doors and switch off mechanical ventilation. The smoke moves over the A17 towards Zevenbergen and Langeweg.
The company CNC Grondstoffen on the Orionweg makes compost for mushroom growers. The fire is in a transport hall, where there is a long conveyor belt. There’s no one left in the building. The fire started around a quarter past one. Train traffic on the adjacent freight railway line has been halted.
Fire engines from across the region have been called to the fire. They have not only been called to extinguish the fire, but also to ensure the water supply. The building is ventilated. Johan Heesterbeek, head of production at CNC, says that the tire weather was on site very quickly. They were practicing nearby and already saw the smoke.
According to a company employee, the fire started in a large work hall measuring one hundred and fifty by one hundred meters on two floors. A conveyor belt runs on the top floor where no people normally work. In the hall, horse and chicken manure is processed into compost for mushroom cultivation.
“We were still producing, but actually already in the completion phase,” says the employee. At the time, there were about twenty people working on the site, ten of whom were in the hall where the fire broke out. “They worked on the ground floor, so one floor below where the fire started.”
All company employees have been sent home.