Alkmaar girls set 7 fires because they were bored, lawyer says

The two girls arrested for setting fires in seven places in Alkmaar, including one that completely burned down a clothing store, confessed to the police. These “vulnerable girls,” aged 12 and 14, acted out of boredom, not malicious intent, and these were not targeted actions, their lawyer, Elwin Boskma, told NH.

“It was not their intention to set fire to entire shops or buildings. They did not realize that this could happen. They were very shocked,” Boskma said. The girls were arrested on Friday. The youngest was released from custody on Monday, but the 14-year-old will remain in pre-trial detention for another two weeks at least. Due to his clients’ ages, Boskma needs to be hesitant with the information he provides. But he did want to address some rumors and allegations going around in Alkmaar.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) holds the pair responsible for seven fires. The first was on the first floor of the library in the city center. Then there were fires in the toilets at McDonald’s, Hema, the Grote Kerk, and cinema Vue, and in a tent in a Decathlon branch. All these fires were quickly extinguished. The last fire in a clothing store in the De Mare shopping center on Europaboulevard spread quickly and burned down the entire store.

According to Boskma, the girls are friends who know each other from school. “They had agreed to meet in the park in the Mare in Alkmaar to chill. Not to deliberately start fires and certainly not with these consequences,” he said. They started the first fire out of boredom, he said. “They are on holiday, no school, little daytime activity. And I understand that people think from their own perception: how crazy can you be? But, we cannot look into the minds of children. And as adults, we cannot assume that these vulnerable young people see the consequences of their actions in the same way.”

The girls didn’t explain why they kept setting fires. “I think they are also struggling with that,” the lawyer said. “In any case, it was not targeted actions. I would like to emphasize that to the victims.”

There are rumors that the girls acted on orders, were put under pressure, or were following a TikTok trend. According to Boskma, he has found no indications to substantiate any of these rumors. “Their phones were confiscated during the arrest. And they also gave all the codes so that [the police] could get in and thus cooperate with the investigation. More information may emerge from that data.”

He said the girls were very shaken by what happened. After setting the last fire, they fled to the park but returned when they noticed the smoke and sirens. They thought they had killed someone, he said. “They asked me and the police: were there any fatalities? There was so much smoke. When I said that no one had died, I saw relief.”

The lawyer understands the anger among Alkmaar residents about the fires. “I saw the fire, too, and it could have ended much, much worse.” He asked the girls whether they knew how much damage they caused. They thought around 100,000 euros. “I then said: add some zeroes after that. They clearly have no idea of value.”

“I hope that people realize that this could have been their children, too. And that they sometimes do very stupid things,” Boskma said. “They have a clean criminal record and are very vulnerable.”