Crazy Dutch habbits

[pieter]

Gangs of cityboys and farmerboys enjoy themselves with self made explosives made of heavy firework


These guys have a death wish with this 6000 liter (1583 Gallon) carbid canon. I found this video somewere in the area of Gilze in The Netherlands. Thanks guys! The lid of 150KG is traveling more then 60 meter through the air. Real BIG explosion!

A farmer Carbid cannon. The carbid cannon tradition exist already for a long time. Grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandsons. We call it farmed fire works, and all over the country in the rural area's you hear the bangs of the carbid cannons.






This one was actually extremely dangerous, a lunatic blew up a heavy peace of slefmade fireworks and blue the glas out of a local government building. The Muncipality was lucky the car, packed with fireworks of the guy did not explode. The fire work crazyness grows year after year. A problem for the Dutch police was that in some towns they were attacked with firework and molotow cocktails. People under the influence of alcohol and drugs are unstoppable, because they don't feel the pain of the police Baton. They are crazy. I wonder if the Netherlands is the only place in the world were people use firework everywhere. In other places the fireworks seam to be concentrated on some spots and done by professionals. That's much better, in my opinion. Controlled, and less inguries.

[pieter]

Firework disaster Enschede, may 2000, there was a firework company in the middle of a neighbourhood which exploded. Hundreds of fire brigade colones from the Netherlands and Germany entered the town to help them. My aunt in a neighbouring town, about 5 miles away felt the enormous blow of the explosion with gave a large air pressure.



The neighbourhood looked like a warzone after the firework disaster. About 23 people died there. I was in Italy back then and only heard abut the disaster after a week, when I came back.





The power of the explosion, the roof of a supermarket collapses

[pieter]

[Jaga]

+++Firework disaster Enschede, may 2000, there was a firework company in the middle of a neighbourhood which exploded. Hundreds of fire brigade colones from the Netherlands and Germany entered the town to help them. My aunt in a neighbouring town, about 5 miles away felt the enormous blow of the explosion with gave a large air pressure.+++

Hi Pieter,
thanks for teaching us about Holland. It is good that there were no more victims in this catastrophy after considering how close Dutch people live.

[pieter]

Jan 2, 2012 23:28:43 GMT -7 Jaga said:

+++Firework disaster Enschede, may 2000, there was a firework company in the middle of a neighbourhood which exploded. Hundreds of fire brigade colones from the Netherlands and Germany entered the town to help them. My aunt in a neighbouring town, about 5 miles away felt the enormous blow of the explosion with gave a large air pressure.+++

Hi Pieter,
thanks for teaching us about Holland. It is good that there were no more victims in this catastrophy after considering how close Dutch people live.

Jaga,

It was the largest disaster in the Netherlands after the second world war which was not a plane crash or natural disaster. It was the largest explosion after the second war (explosions from bombardments and artillery and tank fire). The effect and shock were larger than the 23 people that lost their life. A neighbourhood disappeared with two large explosions. People lost their fondness of fireworks. For years there was no firework on newyearseve in Enschede. And a new neighbourhood with the same came back.

The Enschede fireworks disaster was a catastrophic fireworks explosion occurring at the SE Fireworks depot on 13 May 2000, in the eastern Dutch city of Enschede.
The fire led to an enormous explosion which killed 23 people (including four firemen) and injured 947. The biggest blast was felt up to 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the scene. SE Fireworks was a major importer of fireworks from China and supplier to pop concerts and major festive events in the Netherlands. Prior to the disaster it had a good safety record and met all safety audits.

Damage

A 40 hectare area around the warehouse was destroyed by the blast.[ Around 400 houses were destroyed, 15 streets incinerated and a total of 1,500 homes were damaged, leaving 1,250 people homeless - essentially obliterating the neighbourhood of Roombeek. Ten thousand residents were evacuated, and damages eventually exceeded € 450 million.

Cause

It appeared that the fire began in the work area of the central building where some 900 kg of fireworks were stored. This fire then extended to two full containers that had been stored illegally outside of the building. A reaction of explosions eventually led to the ignition. The fireworks bunker ignition caused the explosion of 177 tons of fireworks, virtually destroying the area. As a mark of respect to the casualties, Dutch Television interrupted transmission of the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 midway through the programme, to show breaking news coverage. Dutch telephone voting in the Contest was also suspended to free up capacity for the emergency services communications.
One theory for the scale of the disaster was that workers had accidentally left open internal doors which might have contained the fire and subsequent blast. Theoretically such an explosion was highly unlikely because the fireworks were stored in bunkers specifically designed to minimize the risk.
The week prior to the explosion, SE had been audited and met all official safety regulations, and the fireworks had been legally imported and inspected as safe by Dutch authorities. Many residents from affected Roombeek—a poor, working class neighbourhood—complained of governmental neglect and deliberate non-interest and inaction, arguing the whole disaster was an accident waiting to happen.

Legal proceedings

The cause of the fire has never been officially verified. One possibility was arson, with several arrests being made by the Dutch police but the fire department stated accidental ignition via an electrical short circuit could not be totally ruled out.
In April 2002, the two managers of the company, Rudi Bakker and Willie Pater, were sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment for violation of environmental and safety regulations and dealing in illegal fireworks. Furthermore they were found guilty of an explosion with deadly consequences due to criminal negligence.
In May 2003 Arnhem Appeals Court acquitted 36 year-old Andre De Vries of arson. Almelo Court had originally (May 2002) tried and convicted de Vries of arson and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment.
A total of €8.5m in compensation was awarded to the victims of the Enschede firework factory explosion according to the organisation in charge of distributing the compensation, the UPV, having assessed 3,519 claims: 300 people cash for incurring extra costs, 136 people money for loss of income and 1,477 people compensation for health problems.

Dutch fire safety regulations


A memorial of the disaster, outlining devastated areas around SE Fireworks.

The SE Fireworks disaster has led to intensified safety regulations in The Netherlands concerning storage and sale of fireworks. The Roombeek area that was destroyed by the blast has since been rebuilt.

Memorials

There have been annual public memorial services in Roombeek, since 2000 led by the mayor Jan Mans, and commonly ending on the Stroinksbleekweg. The theme of 2004 was "homecoming".

[pieter]

Roombeek (Enschede, East-Netherlands on the Dutch-German border)



Roombeek is a working-class suburb of the Dutch city of Enschede. It made International headlines due to the horrific Enschede fireworks warehouse disaster (Dutch, "Vuurwerkramp") on May 13, 2000. The warehouse explosion in Roombeek caused 23 deaths, and wounded 947 people. Around 400 homes were destroyed, and 1500 were seriously damaged by the fireworks explosion.
Prior, there were already plans for a major renovation of the district. Many old factory complexes are now renovated and suitable for living, work, and cultural activities. A location along the Roombeek waterway was dedicated as a memorial to the four firefighters who perished in the Enschede fireworks disaster.



Reconstruction



After the fireworks disaster, confidence in the town needed to be restored. Thus, a supervised reconstruction of the area was carried out, called Project Reconstruction Roombeek'. Urban supervisor Pi de Bruijn was chosen to lead the project - due to his background in Twente, and extensive experience with other major urban projects. De Bruijn decided that the district largely be planned according to the ideas of Roombeeks' citizenry.



Participation

The project was started with the involvement of many inhabitants of Roombeek. Reconstruction project staff talked with area families (at times accompanied by an interpreter), so that residents could speak their demands, and their wishes could be put on paper.

This resulted in the following objectives:
- A district to return to
- A lively neighborhood
- A familiar area
- a safe neighborhood
- A district with history
- A district with a future value
- an area without borders
- the district into their own hands


Children play in a pond in the new Roombeek neighbourhood


Also older people enjoy New Roombeek

The Three Axes of Roombeek

The new plan of Roombeek (after the 2000 disaster), is based on the original map (a familiar area). The emphasis is on three axes: the Roomweg from east to west, the Lonneker Spoorlaan from south to north, and the Museum Avenue. Along the Museum Avenue axis is a strict height restriction, which means that all new buildings must be reviewed by De Bruijn himself.
The three axial roads lead to the traditional town centre of Roombeek, where the Ekenhof and Prismare are located. The node is also the square to The Roozendaal and Twentse Welle.

Public space in Roombeek



The area is known for a lively public character. There are now large tracts of public space, including:
The Lasonderbleek, with the theme "remember". That theme was chosen because of this area's proximity to the site where the fireworks disaster occurred.



The Stroinksbleek, with the theme "culture". This area includes a lake, and a "culture cluster"- where concerts and other art performances can be performed.
The Lonnekerbleek, with the theme of "relaxation". This park is still under construction.



Architecture in Roombeek


The Eekenhof (Eeken court) seen from the Roomweg (Creamroad)

Roombeek had an area with innovative and unique architecture. Buildings and designs from the following architects can be found in Roobeek:
Bjarne Mastenbroek of Search, Amsterdam
Claus and Kaan, Amsterdam
Peter Hubner, plus + bauplanung Gmbh, Neckartenzlingen Germany
Molenaar & van Winden, Delft
Jan Benthem, Amsterdam
Peter Wilson, Muenster Germany
Rein van Wylick, Eindhoven
Cino Zucchi, Milan
Harry Abels, Enschede
Erick van Egeraat
Branimir Medić and Pero Puljiz, Architekten Cie, Amsterdam
Michiel de Wit and Jan Hein Geerdink Project.DWG, Enschede


Panorama of the Enschede, Roombeek neighbourhood

[pieter]

The firework disaster had a consequence for the Eurovision contest watch from 3.48

[karl]

Pieter

What a terrible situation and 100 tons of firework {powder}. It is as the genie was let out of the bottle to do as it will...

As brought out, this type of business in a populated area is very risky and negligent in the manner of public safety, it would be quite interesting as to how the owners were able to obtain and keep their business license.

It reflects though, to the manner of resilience of people and their ability to recover from such a disaster such as these...

Karl