A pleasant pancake afternoon took a turn on Friday after a fire at Praktijkschool de Zwaaikom in Oosterhout. Five people were injured, students and staff had to rush outside. In addition to the shock, director Salo Timmermans has a feeling of gratitude for all the help. “People even made their homes and showers available for an injured colleague.”
Five people were injured in the fire: three students (teenagers) and two adults. One teacher suffered burns and was taken to hospital, but has now returned home.
According to the director, the victims are doing well under the circumstances. “The teacher has burns, but he is expected to make a full recovery. This also applies to the students, who had less serious injuries.” Two of the three students are already back at school.
Gas catches fire during baking
The students were baking pancakes for local residents in the school auditorium. Things went wrong when gas was suddenly released and caught fire.
“Gas was released and it ignited. That’s what you call a gas explosion,” the director explains. It is not yet clear how exactly this could have happened. “That is the part we do not yet know, which needs to be further investigated.”
According to him, it is not the case that the gas cylinder itself exploded. “It simply remained intact. It is really the released gas that caught fire.”
Students leave quickly
Timmermans was not in the building himself when things went wrong, but he got there quickly. “I was close by and at school within a few minutes.”
Upon arrival he saw that the evacuation had already started. “Fortunately, the children were already outside, at the regular meeting point. The first emergency services were already there at that time.” Fire brigade and ambulances responded en masse. More emergency services followed shortly afterwards.
After the evacuation, the students were taken care of in the nearby De Pannenhoef community center. They stayed there until they could pick up their things and go home.
The impact of the fire on the students is great. “That is where most of the care and attention is now focused,” says the director. To help them cope with the shock, the school called in help from the GGD. In the days after the fire, mainly the classes involved were supervised. Parents could also visit the school for advice and discussions.
Neighborhood comes to the rescue
What Timmermans remembers most is the support from the area. Local residents immediately offered help. “People even made their house and shower available for an injured colleague. That is really heartwarming.” According to him, it shows how involved the environment is.
He also has a lot of praise for the first responders. “The collaboration with emergency services was really fantastic. You see how professionally everyone works together, which helps enormously.”
How exactly the gas was released is still being investigated. The school will wait for these results before taking measures. “First we need to know what went wrong, so that we can see what we should do differently in the future,” Timmermans explains. “It’s still too early for that.”
