Police: Teen arrested for setting Sunday forest fire

The police have arrested a 16 year old boy from Breda in connection with the large forest fire in Chaam on Sunday. About 60 hectares of the forest went up inflames and a part of a refugee center had to be evacuated. The police suspect arson and arrested the boy on suspicion of involvement. He was arrested following a tip. The police do not have any clues pointing to arson, but the technical investigation is still ongoing, NOS reports. The fire was discovered around 5:43 p.m on Sunday in the Kleine Slingerdreef. The fire department responded with at least 15 fire engines and immediately escalated the situation to GRIP 1, meaning that all emergency services including the police, firefighters and the municipality had to work together to fight the fire. The emergency services immediately asked everyone in the area to leave the area and to close all windows and doors. A building that is part of a refugee center is located in the area and the residents had to be evacuated and relocated to a neighboring building. There was a huge amount of smoke, but measurements by the fire department showed no harmful amounts of pollutants.