Residents trapped in homes during dangerous Vlaardingen fire

A large fire raged in a business complex on Oosthavenkade in Vlaardingen on Wednesday. Massive amounts of smoke had local residents stuck indoors for hours. The fire started around 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday and spread quickly, according to the police. The surrounding area was closed off to all traffic and trains between Maassluis and Schiedam were stopped. During the course of the morning the wind turned and blew the smoke towards Vlaardingen center. The city sirens were sounded and local residents were told to go indoors and keep windows and doors closed. The market was canceled and schoolchildren were kept indoors during recess. Firefighters struggled to get the fire under control all day, only managing it around 4:00 pm. They did manage to prevent the fire spreading to neighboring buildings, but the business complex itself can be considered lost. The fire department regularly took asbestos measurements throughout the day - no asbestos was released. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Nog een aantal foto's van de situatie en de nabluswerkzaamheden aan de #Oosthavenkade. #brandweer @Vr_Rr pic.twitter.com/H9NFxu1pOo

— VG Zuid 17-3331 (@BrandweerVGZuid) September 16, 2015

Dit is wat ze noemen een 'blusdeken'. Daarmee wel sein 'brand meester' in #Vlaardingen #oosthavenkade @RTV_Rijnmond pic.twitter.com/YAmaiFkVkW

— Mirjam de Winter (@mirjamdewinter) September 16, 2015

Dit is voor mij het beeld van vanochtend. Brand #Oosthavenkade #Vlaardingen pic.twitter.com/BKbOB6CK3V

— Jelle Gunneweg (@JelleGunneweg) September 16, 2015

De brand: een foto-overzicht http://t.co/bVysWgdBGH #Vlaardingen Bekijk de brand in 24 beelden! pic.twitter.com/jYRWuxTeXw

— Vlaardingen24 (@Vlaardingen24) September 16, 2015

Sirene in Vlaardingen afgegaan vanwege brand aan de Oosthavenkade.http://t.co/feSj1dt85f pic.twitter.com/SEMsKK2LtF

— Rijnmond (@RTV_Rijnmond) September 16, 2015