Moerdijk council and safety region Midden and West Brabant failed on most counts during the massive fire in January at chemical storage company Chemi-Pack, says the report into the incident by the public order and safety inspectorate.

The report, published on Wednesday and widely reported, says there was a lack of communication and coordination and that the risks inherent in Moerdijk, with its sea port and chemical companies, were not sufficiently embedded into the national disaster and crisis management policy.
In its own report, the health and safety inspectorate said insufficient attention was paid to the working practices of fire, police and ambulance workers during a fire in which dangerous particles were released.
Taking steps
Safety minister Ivo Opstelten and the local authorities accept the reports’ findings and are taking steps to improve the situation.
Moerdijk will get more fire fighters and Opstelten aims to provide a special foam-blowing vehicle as soon as possible.
The safety inspectorate is to begin a new investigation into which areas of the country are at risk of a similar large-scale incident and to what extent the safety regions are prepared for these risks.