The smoke development that arose on Friday evening due to a large fire in the Westelijk Havengebied is decreasing. However, the pile of metal is still on fire. Earlier in the evening an NL-Alert went out with the advice to close the windows and doors if the smoke is bothered by the smoke. Around 11.25 pm a new NL-Alert went out with the announcement that that advice has expired.
Just after 9 p.m., an NL-Alert went off because of the large fire on the Kwadrantweg in the Westelijk Havengebied. “If you are bothered by the smoke: go inside, close windows and doors, turn off ventilation,” the message reads.
Earlier in the evening, a metal working company on the Kwadrantweg in the Westelijk Havengebied, behind the Westerpark, caught fire. The fire can be seen from a considerable distance, just like the cloud of smoke created by the fire.
The report of the fire came in at around 7:40 p.m. to the fire service. Due to the size of the fire, the fire brigade has rushed to the industrial estate with many vehicles, and there is also a fire boat present. The fire can be clearly seen from various places in the city. “Stay out of the smoke, stay away from the location. The fire brigade is busy extinguishing,” says a spokesperson for the fire brigade on site.
Still hours of extinguishing
At 10:19 p.m., the fire brigade announced that the pile of metal was still on fire. However, the smoke development is decreasing. The NL-Alert is still active. The fire service also says it is expected that it will take several hours to extinguish the fire.
A tipster reports to AT5 that the smoke cloud can even be seen in Amstelveen, other tipsters report that the smoke cloud can also be seen from IJmuiden, Almere and Lelystad. The fire service advises people affected by the smoke to keep windows and doors closed and to switch off the ventilation. Measuring teams monitor whether increased concentrations of hazardous substances are released as a result of the fire.
The smoke hits hard down towards the A10. The spokesperson for the fire service says that there is busy consultation between the fire service, Rijkswaterstaat and the police about traffic. The spokesperson wants to emphasize that people should not come to the fire.
Many Amsterdammers also report that the smoke can be smelled throughout the city. The fire can also be smelled very well in places outside the city. “It smells like an idiot in here”, says a resident of Diemen to AT5.