Fire in Hoboken under control

This morning there was a fire at a scrubber installation (unit that cleans the gases before they are emitted) in Umicore’s facility in Hoboken. The impacted installation was immediately evacuated and the employees were put to safety. No people were hurt. The installation is shut down, while the other departments keep track of their activities. A thorough investigation has been initiated to identify the cause of the incident.

As a precautionary measure it was decided to evacuate residents in the immediate vicinity. They should be able to return to their homes very soon.

The local fire brigade (“Brandweer Zone Rand”) provided support with measuring teams in order to determine, together with a Hazardous Materials team, the nature of the expended gases. This revealed no abnormal values.

More information for the local community can be found in the press release issued by the fire brigade of Antwerp (available in Dutch only): https://www.politieantwerpen.be/news/press-item/brand-bij-umicore-hoboken-update