Very large roadside fires: A28 completely closed between Harderwijk and Nunspeet | Inland

According to the Safety Region North and East Gelderland (VNOG), the fire along the A28 has spread to a nature reserve near the Beekhuizerpad near Harderwijk. “A number of fire trucks are also putting out the fire here.”

Rijkswaterstaat, VNOG and the ANWB report that the highway is completely closed in both directions between the Elspeet and Harderwijk exits due to the roadside fires. Traffic is advised to drive via Apeldoorn (A50 and A1).

Traffic on the A28 has been plagued by fires and accidents all day. Due to previous roadside fires, the A28 was closed around half past three completely closed for an hour between Harderwijk and Nunspeet. It then concerned a fire that broke out around half past two in a fifty-metre-long strip of forest near Hulshorst.

The fire brigade then seemed to have the fire under control and the road was reopened around 4.30 pm, but apparently the fire flared up there and/or elsewhere along the A28. Hulshorst is again indicated in the fire reports as a location next to Harderwijk.

The central reservation on the A28 between Wezep and Harderwijk was a point of discussion in November 2019.

At the time, Rijkswaterstaat wanted to cut down the characteristic central reservation to increase road safety, VNOG wanted to get rid of the conifers in order to create a fire corridor that ensured that a roadside fire could not become a major wildfire. ‘That risk is increased by the hot and dry summers’, the VNOG stated.

Because everyone involved disagreed about the massive felling of trees, it didn’t go through at the time. Result: the central reservation remained largely undisturbed, the conifers could remain on the side in a strip of 80 meters wide and 30 kilometers long.

Today’s roadside fires, during a hot, dry summer, put that discussion in a topical light again.