“Several” hospitalized as fire, smoke sweep through residential care facility

A large fire broke out Tuesday morning in an apartment on the second floor of an elderly care complex in Gouda’s historic city center, the regional safety authority said.

The safety authority said “several” people were injured in the blaze, though details on the number and severity of their injuries have not yet been confirmed. Records show firefighters were dispatched around 10:18 a.m. after reports of smoke from a second-floor apartment at the care home on De Baan.

The building, located on Groeneweg, saw flames and heavy smoke originating from a single apartment. “A second-floor apartment was completely destroyed by fire. The fire is now out. The fire caused a significant amount of smoke,” the safety authority said. Firefighters struck out the blaze at 11:25 a.m. and remained at the scene to monitor the situation.

The alarm was escalated twice, and by 10:30 a.m. the fire was declared a major incident. A Grip 1 emergency protocol was also activated to coordinate all responding personnel under a single incident commander.

Residents were evacuated from the complex and are being sheltered in a common area. “Several residents were transported to a hospital,” the safety authority said. Ten ambulances responded to the scene, and authorities closed Fluwelensingel to give emergency personnel space to stage and manage the response.

“Due to the evacuation, the situation was upgraded to a major fire,” a Hollands Midden fire department spokesperson told Omroep West. “There was no visibility on the upper floors due to the smoke.”