Major Haarlem demolition fire under control, nuisance in IJmond and Zaanstreek is decreasing

NOS News•today, 12:43•Amended today, 4:46 PM

A major fire raged for hours at a car and ship scrapyard in Haarlem today. As far as we know, no one was injured, but the smoke clouds caused major inconvenience in Haarlem-Noord, Velsen and the surrounding area and parts of the Zaan region.

The safety region sent two NL Alerts in which it advised residents to keep windows and doors closed and to switch off ventilation systems. The fire brigade has now given the signal, the alerts have ended and the nuisance is significantly less. The fire brigade is still busy extinguishing the fire.

The fire at the demolition yard on the Waarderpolder industrial estate broke out around 11.30 am due to an unknown cause, regional broadcaster NH reports. Flames soon erupted from the car and ship wrecks on the site.

This is what the huge plumes of smoke looked like:

Huge plumes of smoke due to fire in Haarlem scrap yard

The fire brigade had great difficulty putting out the fire for hours. “It is a considerable mountain of scrap metal that is on fire,” a spokesperson said earlier this afternoon.

It was mainly the enormous clouds of smoke that caused more and more problems this afternoon. At first there were only complaints about smoke and stench from residential areas in Haarlem-Noord, later residents of Velsen-Zuid, Driehuis and Velserbroek also complained. Around two o’clock, the safety region also advised the residents of Assendelft and Krommenie in the Zaan region to stay away from the smoke.

It is not yet clear to what extent the smoke has actually been dangerous to public health. The fire brigade has continuously taken measurements.