More must see video: Fire fells Dutch TV tower.
The video is of the collapse today of the Hoogersmilde radio and TV broadcasting tower in the Netherlands after fire broke out along the mast. There was another broadcasting tower that caught fire in the town of Lopik last night but did not result in a collapse. No connection has been made between the two fires.
No one was injured in the incident; fire fighters working to put out the rapidly spreading fire had withdrawn from the tower shortly before the collapse. Police had already cordoned off the area around the burning tower.
The cause of the fire that raged around 100 metres above ground is unknown. The power supply to the tower was cut off soon after the blaze broke out, disrupting radio and TV broadcasts to parts of the Netherlands.
The Hoogersmilde disaster will have a longer term impact for Dutch broadcasters. A fire, possibly sparked by lightening, damaged the tower leading to a partial collapse of the mast. No one was injured in the collapse, but it is unclear how quickly the transmitting stations can be put back into use.
Before the collapse of its upper section, the Hoogersmilde tower was one of the tallest in the Netherlands.
