On Monday evening, a car, a caravan and a trailer tent went up in flames in Smilde. In the early morning, several items were set on fire in Hoogersmilde at an intersection with the N371. According to a bystander, a group of young people were celebrating at one of the fires.
Several caravans have already gone up in flames in Smilde this year. Mayor Jan Zwiers of Midden-Drenthe wants to discuss this with young people after the New Year. “Every fire is of course one too many. We understand that the youth, because they are mainly young people, are looking at this time to see where the border lies. And there is a tradition here of setting things on fire, but it is not possible so that all kinds of caravans and things like that go up in flames.”
The municipality does not plan to take measures before New Year’s Eve, says Zwiers. “We are not going to take any extra measures on New Year’s Day and implement all kinds of policies and so on. After the New Year we will discuss this and see how we deal with this. We will certainly come to an agreement with the young people.”
The police suspect that the young people take the items themselves and set them on fire on the spot. No charges had been announced as of Tuesday afternoon. According to the police, it is initially up to the municipality to do something about this, unless it gets out of hand. “If it becomes unsafe, we will of course be there.”