New Year's bonfires cause multiple fires in Scheveningen

By Janene Pieters on Tuesday, 1 January 2019 - 07:47
A Dutch Firetruck in action on the heathland near Ede P.J.L Laurens/Wikimedia Commons

Multiple fires started in buildings and the dunes in Scheveningen after the wind blew sparks from the New Year's bonfires over the town. The fire department has the fires under control, NU.nl reports.

Photos and videos on social media show whirlwinds with sparks in them. As the wind was blowing from the beach towards Scheveningen, this caused a dangerous situation. 

Mayor Pauline Krikke of The Hague wants to know what went wrong with the bonfires. "We have to also investigate whether bonfires in this form are still responsible in the future", she said. "This was awful. I can imagine that people experienced anxious moments. For them a festive evening ended in a personal drama. I sympathize very much with residents and entrepreneurs who are affected."

The fire department extinguished the bonfires around 5:00 a.m. The riot police had to intervene because people refused to give the firefighters room to work. 

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