A car is taken away just in time by firefighters.Image Arie Kievit
The atmosphere is tense in the Schiedam fire station. It’s Sunday evening, an hour before New Year’s Eve. Normally this is one of the busiest barracks in Rotterdam-Rijnmond, covering Schiedam and Rotterdam-West. But now it is remarkably quiet.
On the first floor of the barracks, the six men of the tank sprayer 17-0431 sit in comfortable armchairs and watch the television channel SBS6, which broadcasts the Today Inside New Year’s special. Their 24-hour shift started at 8 a.m., still nine hours to go. Aside from a “middle fire” in the basement of an apartment, nothing special happened.
From the author
Menno van Dongen is a crime, police and justice reporter for de Volkskrant
“Working on New Year’s Eve is fun, because it is challenging and varied,” says Commander Marc Grijzenhout. ‘This is a young team who have heard exciting stories about New Year’s Eve. I see them thinking: when will this happen?
11.08pm
Young people enjoy the fireworks on the Essenburgsingel in Rotterdam, Grijzenhout hears on his walkie-talkie. “We’ll take a look,” is his response. The men immediately go down to the garage, where the tanker, the basic vehicle of the fire department, is located. Two minutes later everyone puts on their heat resistant suits and helmets and off we go.
Firefighters on the road during New Year’s Eve. Image Arie Kievit
At the scene it seems that a fire engine from another station is already putting out the fire. We stay in the car, with the windows and doors closed. “The riot police are already around,” says Ruben de Kuijer, a 28-year-old firefighter with open eyes and black curls. “We’ll just observe.”
More than a week ago, De Kuijer and his colleagues were hit twice by fireworks here. Afterwards he heard a ringing in his ear, which fortunately disappeared again.
Don’t you find it frustrating that they can’t do anything against firecracker throwers? “Well, the police arrested some of them. And we can do something: give those guys a good kick,” she says, smiling. “But yeah, we don’t have that authority.”
00:42
“I see fires there,” one of the firefighters says as we drive to a square. A small fire was started there, probably garbage in a brazier. “I’ll let it burn,” is Commander Grijzenhout’s response. “To maintain peace, on the advice of the MST.”
00:52
Back at the barracks, Grijzenhout explains what MST is. During New Year’s Eve, an inconspicuous car drives around Schiedam with a police officer and a firefighter: the Multi Surveillance Team (MST). They are a kind of scouts, who can easily penetrate neighborhoods with their “civilian machine” without problems. They evaluate whether it is safe for the firefighters to get to work or whether it would be better to have the Mobile Unit (ME) arrive first.
“Sometimes it’s better to turn a blind eye and wait,” says Grijzenhout. “The MST said it was a declining fire. This was soon proven to be wrong and is now being extinguished. So, um…’ he is interrupted by the intercom: ‘Marc, come upstairs and have a bubble.’ Someone bought “children’s champagne” to celebrate the New Year.
Before reaching the stairs, the alarm goes off again. We have to run towards a burning car. The team members rush down and quickly change clothes: the overalls remain in the garage because they are dirty. Then the siren sounds and we move away.
1:06
A small car is on fire on Jozef Oreliosingel. Next to it, a white Range Rover caught fire, the fire risks spreading to a silver Citroën. The owner is in a panic, she wants to move the car but the police stop her.
Team members Romano and Ger immediately begin putting out the fire. To protect themselves from the hot, toxic smoke, they wear a breathing mask and a self-contained breathing apparatus on their back. Shortly afterwards De Kuijer gets into the hot Citroën, which leaves the car park, to the relief of the owners, who fall into each other’s arms.
“That car belongs to my daughters who are studying,” Amar, 63, a resident of the area, says shortly afterwards. ‘I’m so happy the firefighters arrived quickly. One tail light melted, I hope the damage isn’t too bad.’
The fire takes the neighbors out Image Arie Kievit
1:20
“The car was cramped, with that bottle on my back and the helmet on,” says De Kuijer. «I’m happy we can help you. Today I didn’t save any people, but I saved a car.’
2:39
We drive from one relationship to another. When we are almost at the barracks, another alarm sounds, due to a fire in the house. “Large flames were seen on the other side,” she said. Along the way it turns out that things aren’t so bad: a mobility scooter burned down in the courtyard of an apartment building, causing a lot of smoke damage. After some extinguishing work and carbon monoxide measurements, we can immediately move on to the scooter and some ready-made containers.
3:56
Three hours after celebrating the beginning of 2024 we enter the garage of the barracks. There are still reports of fires in the region. Going to bed – as usual in the barracks – is useless for the team of tanker 17-0431. But luckily there’s now time for a glass of non-alcoholic champagne.
Champagne toast for children in the barracks Image Arie Kievit
A shocking number of cars and scooters went up in flames in Rotterdam-Rijnmond on New Year’s Eve. There were 110, while a year earlier there were 46. The firefighters would like the shared scooters to be removed before New Year’s Eve. “They are easily thrown onto a pyre,” says a spokesperson. In total, the fire brigade received more than six hundred reports and the ambulance service carried out 227 trips for resuscitations, stabbings, fatal shootings and serious fireworks incidents. On New Year’s Eve the windshield of a fire engine was smashed, rendering the vehicle no longer usable. No injuries were reported. The number of accidents in the region is comparable to that of last New Year’s Eve.
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2024-01-01 17:19:32
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