Frustrated student? Burning exam almost causes forest fire in Den Helder

Celebrating that the exams are over or frustration because of a resit? Or is it a practice exam? Why a potential student set fire to a mountain of exam papers in the Dark Dunes of Den Helder today is still a mystery.

What is clear is that it could have been a lot more disastrous than a simple fail. “This could have ended much worse,” said a police spokesman.

Lots of fire engines

After a report of a fire around 2.20 pm, many emergency services go to the Donkere Duinen with sirens blaring. When extinguishing, bystanders point out to the firefighters present that there is a new fire in the Donkere Duinen. Once there, the fire brigade finds a burning mountain of papers.

In the photos it seems to be an English exam. The text corresponds to the English exam for VWO from 2022 that can be found online.

“These papers clearly did not belong there,” says a spokesman for the North Holland North Security Region. He couldn’t say what else exactly was on the papers. “We have handed over the papers to the police. They will continue to work with it.”

The police take into account arson, but are still in the dark. “We are still investigating. We do not have further details yet. In any case, we are very happy that it was extinguished quickly,” says a spokesman.

The security region has another urgent call. “During this period of drought, don’t do crazy things with fire in flammable areas.”