# NL-Alert issued as large fire burns in Assen

> Smoke from a very large fire at a business park in Assen is drifting across the A28 and the N33. People nearby are told to keep windows and doors shut.

Society · published 2026-11-05 14:21 · updated 2026-11-05 16:02 · https://nlnow.nl/a/nl-alert-issued-as-large-fire-burns-in-assen/

A very large fire is burning at a business park on the Korenmaat in Assen, the Veiligheidsregio Drenthe (the regional emergency services body) says. Flames have broken out of the building (uitslaande brand), and the fire brigade is trying to protect neighbouring buildings.

An NL-Alert has been sent to phones in the area because of the smoke. It advises people to close windows and doors and switch off ventilation.

The safety region says the smoke is drifting towards Witten and Bovensmilde, over the A28 motorway and the TT-circuit. "That is not really an area where many people live. Fortunately, the smoke is not heading towards the Diepstroeten residential area and the Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis," it said.

Rijkswaterstaat warns of poor visibility on the N33 near Assen, where smoke is blowing across the road.

Shortly before 15:00 the incident was scaled up to GRIP-1, a level for coordination between the different emergency services.

Shortly before 16:30 a second NL-Alert followed, covering a larger area because the smoke cloud is spreading. "Stay out of the smoke and keep the smoke out," the safety region wrote.

The fire is still not under control. The fire brigade is letting part of the building burn out in a controlled way. Nobody is known to be injured, and everyone is out of the building. The safety region says glass particles from solar panels on the roof may end up in the surroundings with the smoke. This is being investigated.

## Background

- **Veiligheidsregio Drenthe**: The Drenthe safety region is one of the regional bodies in the Netherlands that coordinates emergency services, including the fire brigade, police and ambulance services, together with the municipalities in its area. It organises joint preparation for disasters and large incidents and steers the response when one occurs.
- **NL-Alert**: NL-Alert is the Dutch government's warning system that sends emergency messages to mobile phones in a specific area. It is used for urgent situations such as fires, dangerous gas or missing persons, and the message usually includes instructions on what to do.
- **Rijkswaterstaat**: Rijkswaterstaat is the executive agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. It manages the national main road network and the main waterways, and it provides traffic and road-condition information to road users.
- **GRIP-1 (Gecoördineerde Regionale Incidentbestrijdingsprocedure)**: GRIP is the Dutch procedure for coordinating the response to larger incidents across a safety region, with levels from GRIP-1 to GRIP-4 depending on how serious and wide-ranging the incident is. GRIP-1 is the lowest level: the incident is still handled on the spot by one main service, while other emergency services are involved and their work is coordinated.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/