The fire brigade in the north of the country has been busy with several large fires last night. For example, seas of flames arose in Oosternieland (Groningen) and the Frisian Surhuisterveen and Franeker. Elsewhere in the country, a major fire raged in Zaandam.
In the Frisian village of Surhuisterveen, a large fire broke out at a car garage and a car parts store around 10:30 pm on Saturday evening. Both companies were completely burned out, but the fire service was able to prevent the flames from spreading to surrounding buildings.
A house and barn burned down on Fivelweg in Oosternieland in Groningen. The buildings were soon considered lost. Here too, the fire brigade managed to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent sheds by making them wet.
In both incidents, local residents were asked to close windows and doors due to huge smoke developments.
Cause of flames still unknown
In Franeker, a large shed in which egg cartons are stored was lost. The entire shed of approximately 80 by 20 meters was on fire and the roof collapsed, so that the fire service quickly had to make the decision to let the fire burn out in a controlled manner.
Finally, in the night from Saturday to Sunday, a large fire raged in a squat in Zaandam. Several people were able to leave the building on their own. As far as is known, no one was injured.
Part of the roof of the property collapsed and flames spread throughout the building. Due to the major fire, the Zaanstreek-Waterland safety region decided to evacuate surrounding buildings as a precaution. In addition, several streets in the area were closed for firefighting.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire in all four flames.