The recycling company Remondis Recycling in Son en Breugel had a fire for the second time in one week last Saturday. And that’s not the first time. It is also regularly hit at other recycling companies in our province. These fires are often difficult for the fire brigade to extinguish. An overview where things went wrong.
Remondis Recycling in Son en Breugel
In the past week it was twice at Remondis Recycling in Son en Breugel. On Saturday, a garbage pile caught fire. The fire service tried to prevent the fire from spreading to other piles, but failed. Smoke from the fire could be seen in the area. Bystanders even reported that the heat could be felt on the other side of the canal.
Last Sunday it also hit the recycling company. During that fire, part of the industrial estate where the company is located was closed off by the smoke.
Van den Hoogen in Someren
A well-known fire at a recycling company is the one at Van den Hoogen in Someren-Heide in November 2016. An enormous pile of tires caught fire at the company.
The fire was difficult to extinguish because an impenetrable crust formed from the melted rubber. Water and other extinguishing agents barely penetrated that crust. The village suffered from smoke and soot particles for days.
The fire brigade had to find a way to fight the fire. Finally managed to stick a tube through the crust. Foam was sprayed through that tube, so that the temperature of the seat of the fire decreased. In this way the stack of tires could be disassembled and removed.
After the fire, the company was bought out by the municipality of Someren. As a result, the company was not allowed to restart. An investigation report showed that the municipality should have intervened much earlier with the company.
TUF Recycling in Dongen
The enormous fire at TUF Recycling in Dongen is even fresher in our minds. In October 2018, things went wrong when a shed full of artificial turf caught fire. Those artificial grass mats turned out to be a big problem because of the scorching hot, smoldering spots. Those spots were deep in the big piles of artificial turf.
Holes were made in the mats to fight the fire. This allowed the extinguishing water to penetrate to the smoldering spots. Research showed that too many synthetic turf mats were stored at TUF Recycling. The owner of the company was given a community service order for this. Cleaning up the mountain of artificial turf started last year.
Mirec in Eindhoven
In October 2020, a major fire raged at recycling company Mirec in Eindhoven. Shredded computers, telephones, household appliances and batteries, in particular, caught fire.
This created thick clouds of smoke. In parts of Eindhoven the streets were full of smoke for some time. Here too, the fire brigade had their hands full fighting the fire, although the job was less complicated than in Den Bosch, Someren-Heide or Dongen.
AVI in Den Bosch
Last October, things also went wrong at AVI in Den Bosch. The fire was probably caused by a car wreck. Army helicopter and fire boats were then deployed to extinguish this fire. Finally, a specialized company was established to separate the scrap waste.
That year things went wrong at AVI as once before. In March 2021, there was also a major fire, which led to considerable nuisance in the area.
