Major fire in Alkmaar underground parking garage

A major fire broke out in an underground parking garage on Ritsevoort in the center of Alkmaar on Wednesday morning. Firefighters were still at the scene trying to extinguish the fire hours after it broke out. As far as is known, no one was injured. One person was held for questioning, the police said.

The fire in the Singelgarage was first reported to emergency services at 6:24 a.m. on Wednesday. The alarm was raised to a large fire and a Grip 1 situation at 6:30 a.m., and to a very large fire at 6:37 a.m. The fire department responded en masse. At around 11:30 a.m., the fire department said that the fire was under control.

According to local security region Veiligheidsregio Noord-Holland Noord, around 150 cars were parked in the garage when the fire started. How many of them were damaged, is not yet clear. Explosions could be heard at the scene. According to the security region, the bangs were the sound of car tyres exploding.

A spokesperson for the security region told newspaper AD that the fire broke out on floor -2, and that there were real concerns of it spreading to -1. Firefighters struggled with a lack of visibility due to the smoke and the heat, the spokesperson said.

A number of roads were cordoned off to give emergency services room to work. Kennemerstraatweg and Harddraverslaan are closed from Prinses Julianalaan to Nieuwlandersingel. Kennemersingel and Nieulandersingel are also closed.

An NL Alert was issued, warning locals to keep their doors and windows closed and stay out of the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Krijg foto doorgestuurd van #fouteboel grote brand, hier bij entree #Singelgarage aan Ritsevoort #Alkmaar #brandweer #kanjers pic.twitter.com/WPmAeFnR2Q

— Frvz VVD John van der Rhee 🇺🇦🎗️ (@JohnVVD) July 1, 2020