# Church in Westbeemster at very small risk from rectory fire

> A large fire has broken out in the empty rectory of the Catholic Johannes de Doper church in Westbeemster, North Holland. The safety region says the chance of it reaching the church is very small.

Society · published 2026-11-10 03:15 · updated 2026-11-10 03:28 · https://nlnow.nl/a/large-fire-destroys-vacant-rectory-beside-church-in-westbeemster/

A large fire broke out in the rectory (pastorie) of the Catholic Johannes de Doper church in Westbeemster. The building is on fire inside. The local safety region said flames were coming out of the building (an uitslaande brand), so it scaled up the response to a large fire.

The fire was reported at about 22.00 at the building on the Jisperweg. No one was injured, the safety region said.

The safety region said the building has been empty for at least a year. A spokesperson said the chance of the fire spreading to the church is very small, and that no activity was taking place in the church when the fire started.

The spokesperson said firefighters must approach the fire carefully so that they can put it out completely as quickly as possible.

"It's a complex fire, and we have to consider the safety of our colleagues as well," the spokesperson said. Firefighters are weighing that safety against the aim of extinguishing the flames fully and quickly.

> It is a complex fire, and we also have to think about the safety of our colleagues.
> — Spokesperson, safety region

## Background

- **veiligheidsregio**: A safety region is a regional partnership of municipalities in the Netherlands that coordinates emergency services for its area, including the fire brigade, emergency medical care and crisis management. When an incident such as a large fire grows beyond what the first responders can handle, the safety region's command structure can scale up the response by bringing in additional units and partners. Each region is responsible for planning and carrying out disaster and crisis response within its borders.

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