A large fire has broken out on an artillery training range at ‘t Harde in Gelderland, with multiple sources and plumes of smoke visible from well beyond the nearby town of Epe.
The fire service received multiple reports of the blaze on Wednesday morning at the Artillerie Schietkamp, one of the Dutch army’s main artillery firing ranges.
The regional safety board said it had dispatched all available emergency services and that the fire was “certainly not yet under control”.
NL alerts have been issued in a large area stretching across the provinces of Noord-Holland, Gelderland and Flevoland, where residents have been told to keep doors and windows shut and switch off ventilation systems.
A fire service spokesperson said it was too early to say how the fire started, adding it may take several days to put out the flames.
Smoke has spread across the horizon around the range, and the A28 motorway between ’t Harde and Wezep has been closed in both directions. Air traffic has not been affected.
