The future, that is exactly what the youth fire brigade is intended for. It is a breeding ground for the real fire brigade. “Children learn what we are doing at the fire service,” explains Marcel Jonkman, chairman of the Netherlands Youth Fire Service Foundation. “So we train them to move on to the fire service when they are eighteen.” About 25 percent of young people actually move on.
Jonkman joined the fire brigade in Hoogeveen forty years ago. “In 1982 I came into contact with a youth fire brigade myself. Then I asked in Hoogeveen if there was such a thing, because it seemed very nice to me as a child to be busy extinguishing fires, with water and working with a team of young people. There is of course a lot of action. It’s just a really nice hobby to have.”
During this final day it is all about cooperation, speed and not too much blind eye, but also keeping an overview. The eventual winner receives the honor and is one of the best youth fire brigades in the Netherlands. “If you’re good here, you’re really a top youth fire brigade.”
It is difficult to say how the corps of 16-year-old Tim Kamphuis is doing for next year, he says. “We are just going to train well all year and then we hope that we will become national champions next year!”
