firefighter

Hundreds of Oss residents gathered at a rail crossing on Braakstraat in Oss on Thursday evening to commemorate four children who were killed in a collision between a train and a cargo bike at the crossing that morning. They left mountains of flowers and stuffed animals, and lit candles for the children, AD reports.

The number of people suspected of violence against people with a public duty, like police officers, firefighters and paramedics, increased by nearly 20 percent last year. In 2017 a total of 8,964 people were suspected of verbally or physically attacking an emergency worker, compared to 7,502 the year before, NOS reports.

A fire broke out in a home on Bilderdijkstraat in Vlijmen during the early hours of Monday morning. A neighbor noticed the fire around 01:15 a.m. and managed to get the woman living in the burning home outside before she sustained any injuries, Omroep Brabant reports.

The neighbor, a retired firefighter, woke up when the smoke alarms in his home went off. While his wife called the fire department, he went to his neighbor's home to see if he could help. He found a lot of smoke in the first floor of her home. He located the woman in her burning bedroom and helped her outside.

A firefighter in the Amsterdam-Amstelland fire department was suspended for making racist comments to a colleague, a spokesperson for the fire department confirmed to the Telegraaf on Sunday.

The suspended firefighter is employed as a commander in the fire department. The spokesperson could give no further information about the firefighter or the investigation against him.

An Amsterdam firefighter appeared in court on Friday to fight his suspension for discirminatory behavior. This happened one day after Mayor Eberhard van der Laan discussed a damning report by new fire department commander Leen Schaap about the culture within the city's fire department with the General Affairs committee. Van der Laan promised improvement, AT5 reports.