The explosion wrecked cars and houses

The presiding judge, Hans Breitbarth, harshly condemned Enschede authorities for failing to prevent the country's worst fireworks disaster, saying they shared the blame.

An entire city block was destroyed and hundreds of locals injured in the blast, which happened when several storage containers at the depot caught fire, triggering a series of powerful explosions.

Long sentence avoided

Bakker and Pater were each fined 2,250 euros ($2,540) for violating safety regulations.

The men were found guilty of importing and selling illegal fireworks, breaking safety codes and violating storage licenses.

Prosecutors had demanded sentences of between 15 and 30 months, but the pair were both acquitted of the more serious charges of negligence for the fire.

Four fire fighters lost their lives

After the decision Bakker and Pater both walked away from the court, in the town of Almelo, just a few kilometres from Enschede.

Enschede was built around the SE Fireworks factory, the only one in the Netherlands to be located in a residential area.

Unknown danger

The force of the explosion, in which four fire fighters were killed, was heard in nearby towns.

It left a swathe of damage in Enschede, blowing out windows, setting on fire nearby buildings and enveloping the city in clouds of smoke.

Most people - including the mayor Jan Mans - were unaware that the SE Fireworks warehouse was even there.

Fire fighters at first believed they were attending a routine fire, then 100 tons of explosives ignited, sending fireballs into the air.

When it was built in 1977, the warehouse was outside the town, but as new residential areas were built it became surrounded by low-income housing.