New Year’s Eve seems to have passed relatively quietly in the Haarlem region. With the exception of the fatal 19-year-old victim, who died while setting off fireworks in Haarlem, there have been no large-scale incidents.
According to the Kennemerland Safety Region, fire brigades and ambulances had to attend a total of 234 incidents throughout the Kennemerland region. That is eighteen fewer than last year. There were a total of four house fires in Kennemerland. Nine times there were burning vehicles. As far as we know, there have been no reports of aggression against aid workers in the Kennemerland region.
Haarlem: intersection ban massively ignored and fatal accident
On New Year’s Eve, shortly before midnight, a 19-year-old man was killed when setting off fireworks on the Noord Schalkwijkerweg in Haarlem. Out of compassion for the relatives, the police will not make any further statements about the identity of the victim.
It is clear that officers and the Defense explosives disposal service investigated the man’s home after the accident. More heavy fireworks were found there, which were safely detonated on the beach of Zandvoort.
According to a spokesperson for the municipality of Haarlem, it is still too early to have a complete picture of the damage and destruction caused by fireworks around New Year’s Eve. It is clear that the ban on cutting off that applied throughout the municipality was massively ignored.
The local Action Party will ask council questions about New Year’s Eve next week. The party believes that enforcing the ban on lighting consumer fireworks ‘has proven to be completely hopeless’. The Action Party advocates a national sales ban and believes that Mayor Wienen should argue for this in politics in The Hague.
Heemstede and Bloemendaal: ‘quiet and safe’
The municipalities of Bloemendaal and Heemstede have announced that the evening and night were quiet in both municipalities. No serious incidents occurred. There was a complete ban on fireworks in both municipalities. This was not observed everywhere in Heemstede.
In Bloemendaal the fire brigade had to respond to a fire twice. “The police were present on the streets as much as possible on the evening and night of New Year’s Eve. In order to be on the scene quickly in the event of incidents,” said a spokesperson for both municipalities.
Zandvoort: ‘very quiet on New Year’s Eve’
There was one fire to extinguish in Zandvoort. The municipality also talks about a ‘very quiet’ New Year’s celebration there. It was forbidden to let off fireworks on the boulevards and the beach.