A major fire broke out on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at a NorthC Datacenters facility in Almere, the Netherlands. The building, located on Rondebeltweg in the Sallandsekant industrial area of Almere Stad, was evacuated as a precaution. The Flevoland Safety Region sent an NL-Alert to people nearby due to heavy smoke from the fire.
Residents in the surrounding area were advised to stay away from the smoke, close doors and windows, and turn off ventilation systems. According to local media, the smoke plume was visible in several parts of Almere Stad and nearby districts. Emergency services responded with significant resources, and the incident was scaled up to GRIP 1, a Dutch coordination protocol used when several emergency services are involved on site.
NorthC confirmed that everyone present in the building was evacuated in time. Alexandra Schless, CEO of NorthC Datacenters, said in an initial statement that the safety of employees, customers and the surrounding area was the company鈥檚 top priority. No injuries were reported in the first available updates.
Fire broke out at the rear of the building
According to initial reports, the fire was concentrated in a compartment at the back of the data center. Firefighters worked to prevent the flames from spreading to the main building. The first alert reportedly came in at around 8:30 a.m., before the emergency response was quickly expanded due to the scale of the fire and the smoke development.
Specialist teams were also deployed to measure whether hazardous substances were being released into the air. A diesel tank on the site was cooled as a precaution. For this operation, emergency services used heavy equipment brought in from Lelystad Airport, capable of delivering large volumes of water or cooling capacity.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. It is also not yet clear how many NorthC customers may be experiencing technical disruption as a result of the incident. The company said its customer service team was working at full capacity to keep customers informed as the situation developed.
A relevant site in the Amsterdam region
NorthC鈥檚 Almere data center is part of the company鈥檚 regional infrastructure in the Netherlands. The facility is located in the Sallandsekant business park, with links to the A6 motorway, Schiphol, Amsterdam and the wider Randstad region. According to NorthC, the site has a total surface area of 26,000 square metres and 11 MW of electrical capacity.
The company describes the location as a Tier 3 data center powered by 100% certified green electricity and connected to other NorthC data centers in the Netherlands. NorthC also lists several certifications for the site, including ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22301, PCI DSS and SOC II Type II.
That makes the incident relevant beyond the local area. The Amsterdam region is one of Europe鈥檚 key digital hubs, with a high concentration of data centers, cloud connectivity, fibre routes and colocation services. An incident in this type of environment can affect companies hosting servers, network equipment or critical digital services there.
Service continuity remains a key issue for data centers
Data centers are designed to reduce risk, but they remain physical infrastructure. Fire compartmentalisation, detection systems, backup power, cooling, fire suppression and evacuation procedures are essential to keep incidents under control. The first information from Almere indicates that people in the building were able to leave in time, but the technical impact has yet to be clarified.
For colocation customers, an incident like this is also a reminder of the importance of redundancy. Companies running critical services need to plan for scenarios in which a site becomes temporarily unavailable. Backups, replication to a second data center, recovery procedures and clear communication with suppliers are essential parts of that planning.
The coming hours and days should clarify the extent of the damage, whether customer services were affected and what caused the fire. For now, the most important point is that no injuries have been reported and that emergency services acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading to the main building.
Frequently asked questions
Where did the fire break out?
The fire broke out at the NorthC data center located at Rondebeltweg 62 in Almere, in the Sallandsekant industrial area.
Were there any injuries?
According to initial reports, everyone present was evacuated in time and no injuries were reported.
Why was an NL-Alert sent?
The NL-Alert was sent because of smoke from the fire. People nearby were advised to close doors and windows and turn off ventilation systems.
Could NorthC customers be affected?
That has not yet been clarified. NorthC said its customer service team was actively informing customers about the situation.