Large fire in apartment complex in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, residents moved to hotel

After a "very long operation," the fire in Amsterdam's Nieuw-West neighborhood was extinguished around 05:30 a.m. on Saturday, the fire department reports. The fire was caused by gas gangrene that could only be extinguished when the gas was turned off. This took a very long time, according to the fire department. One person was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries, while other residents were examined at the scene.

#Grotebrand op het #BeekEnHoff in #Amsterdam. De bewoners hoorde een enorme knal waarna er #brand uitbrak. De woningen zijn ontruimd. De bewoners van de twee bovengelegen woningen werden gered doormiddel van een ladderwagen van de #brandweer. #Liander kwam ter plekke om het gas… pic.twitter.com/4RTtBmmOgf

— Kyrlian (@Kyrliandebot) July 29, 2023

Several apartments were declared uninhabitable due to the fire. According to the fire department, in addition to the apartment where the fire broke out, the apartment directly above was also affected. The municipality of Amsterdam has arranged accommodation in a hotel for all those affected by the fire, a spokesperson said.

"Gas was leaking from the ruptured gas line near the front door," a spokesperson for the fire department stated. "As a result, the front door was on fire, making it difficult to enter the house."

Grid operator Liander first had to turn off the gas, but only succeeded after two attempts. For instance, first, the wrong gas was turned off, and then it was difficult to find the right connection, the fire department spokesperson said.

A Liander spokesperson explained that an apartment block like the one where the fire raged has two large gas connections, both of which must be turned off in the event of a fire. "So it's not that we turned off the wrong one first, but both had to be turned off for safety reasons.”

According to the spokesperson, it took a relatively long time to shut off the gas completely because it was dark and there was extinguishing water everywhere. Employees of the grid operator had to walk through puddles to find the levers.

The fire raged in a house where no one was present, according to the fire department spokesperson. Because of the smoke, residents of nearby apartments had to be evacuated. With the help of ladders, firefighters managed to get several people out of their apartments.