Separate apartment fires kill Arnhem woman, injure two in The Hague

A woman died in an apartment fire in Arnhem early on Tuesday morning. In another fire in The Hague, two people sustained burns, and a cat died.

The fire in the apartment on Gildemeesteprlein in Arnhem started at around 4:00 a.m., a spokesperson for the security region said to De Gelderlander. “When we arrived, the flames were already coming out of the building. After getting rid of the worst heat, we went inside and found the victim there. She was immediately transported to hospital in critical condition by ambulance,” a firefighter said to the newspaper. She died at the hospital.

The woman was the resident of the apartment where the fire started. The fire department is investigating how the fire started but did not suspect arson. About 50 residents of the apartment building were evacuated. They were able to return home at around 6:00 a.m.

The fire in a home on Weesperstraat in The Hague started at around 2:00 a.m. “possibly in the kitchen while frying,” a spokesperson for the fire brigade said to Omroep West. The two residents could get out of the home on their own but sustained burns to their hands. “They tried to put the fire out themselves.”

The fire department evacuated five surrounding homes. Firefighters got the blaze under control and then searched the home, finding the dead cat. The home is uninhabitable.