Huts built by children during the Youth Land event on the Floraveld in Amsterdam North were set on fire tonight. The wood would have to be removed, but the contractor who had to take care of that could only arrange that on Thursday. According to organizer Patrick van Bronswijk, he had indicated to the district that the wood would remain overnight, but that it had to remain guarded.
“We had a three-day event at the Floraveld, we had received a permit for that”, Van Bronswijk tells AT5. “The contractor who also arranges the wood for the New Year’s Eve fire informed me on Tuesday morning that he would not be able to remove the wood immediately. I then contacted the police and the city district about this, they would contact the contractor. .”
According to Van Bronswijk, who is chairman of the Flora4life foundation, three enforcers visited the Floraveld today. “I also reported it to them. Everyone was aware of Jeugdland and that the contractor could not immediately remove the wood. Yet in the end the wood remained.”
Van Bronswijk had told the spokesperson for the district that the wood should not be left unattended if it could not be removed. “During the event, we guarded the wood ourselves. But with the history of the neighborhood and the absence of the New Year’s fire for two years, you can’t leave wood unattended on the field.”
In the evening, Van Bronswijk was told that the children’s huts had been lit. “A neighbor called me that it was on fire, I thought damn it. I immediately called the fire brigade. The police said we had a fire at our event, but that was not the case at all.”
A police spokesman said the fire had been set and that several people were standing around it. The fire brigade then extinguished the fire and wet the wood.
Fear of bonfire permit
Because of the fire, Van Bronswijk is afraid that the permit for the annual bonfire will not be granted at the turn of the year. “Our relationship with the district is difficult. We want to apply for the permit for the fire as early as possible every year, but that was not possible this year. We still do not have an answer to the permit, I am holding my breath. “
He also has a gloomy view of the permit for a Youth Country in the summer. “The children would like to sleep in the huts that they build, it must be warmer for that. I am afraid that because of this fire it will not be possible to organize that.”