Asbestos fears as massive Tilburg fire spews hot ash

A large fire broke out at the transport company HACAS on Koningshoeven in Tilburg on Wednesday morning. Firefighters are still working to get the fire under control and expect that the extinguishing will take the rest of the day. The fire is causing a large amount of smoke and hot ash in the surrounding area. The fire department is taking measurements in the area to determine whether the smoke contains dangerous substances such as asbestos. The regional safety office is warning people not to touch the hot ash with their skin. It should be wiped away with a wet cloth. Local residents are also advised to keep their windows and doors closed.  An NL-Alert has been issued to keep people out of the area, Omroep Brabant reports. The company is located right next to the A58/A65 highway. A part of the Ringbaan and the exit Tilburg Centrub/Oost are closed because of the fire. The highway itself is open, but the Traffic Information Service warns of traffic jams. Arriva has announced that the fire is also affecting the bus transport - line 3 and line 141 are following a different route and it is possible that some trips will be cancelled. The report of the fire came in around 7:15 a.m. The storage unit is about 50 meters wide and hundreds of meters long, according to the fire department, It contained plastic garden furniture. About 80 firefighters are busy at the scene. "Everything the fire brigade has in-house is being used to extinguish the fire as soon as possible", a spokesperson for the police said to Omroep Brabant. The fire department is trying to prevent the fire spreading to other buildings. According to the spokesperson, the HACA building can be considered lost. The fire department expects that it will take the rest of the day to completely extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire is still unknown.