Large fire at Albert Heijn supermarket in Haarlem
A large fire is raging in the Albert Heijn on Soendaplein in Haarlem on Friday morning. Flames are coming from the supermarket, and the smoke is visible in a wide area. Multiple fire trucks are at the scene, NH Nieuws reports.
The fire broke out around 6:45 a.m., presumably in a truck in the loading zone, and then spread to the supermarket. “Employees of the supermarket discovered the fire during loading and unloading and called the fire brigade,” a spokesperson for the local safety office told NH Nieuws.
The fire brigade escalated the situation to a “very large” fire and a GRIP 1 emergency - a protocol for tackling large incidents that calls for all first responders to unify under a single commanding officer. “The whole store is in flames,” the spokesperson for the safety office said.
No one got hurt, but two people did suffer from smoke inhalation. “A lot of smoke is released. We advise people who are affected by it to keep windows and doors closed,” the spokesperson said.
Firefighters evacuated several surrounding homes and closed some roads to give emergency services easy access to the supermarket.
