Firefighter Peter shares tips for a safer student house: ‘Safety doesn’t seem to be a priority for students’

A small spark can quickly turn into a fire, as students in Kralingen learned at the end of September when their electric blanket began smouldering on the sofa. Firefighter Peter Schuurmans shares tips for making student houses safer. Time to clear the beer crates, bike pumps and mattresses out of your hallway.

“Students don’t seem to prioritise their own safety. It seems like fun comes first, studying second, and safety maybe third”, sighs firefighter Peter Schuurmans. He heads the Safe Living department of the regional safety authority, which works to raise awareness about fire risks. Two years ago, Schuurmans received a high fire service award for his work in fire prevention, among other things.

“Don’t charge your phone, tablet or laptop while it’s lying on the sofa, or in bed with you – not even on your bedside table while you sleep”, warns Schuurmans. “And unplug your electric blanket before going to sleep. When that kind of device starts smouldering on soft, flammable materials, well, those are our regular customers. We keep getting called out for that. And sure, I have to earn my salary, but I’d rather not do it in such a needless way.”

The students in the Kralingen house where the fire broke out all managed to get outside safely. They waited in the cold outside the property on Voorschotenlaan for the fire brigade to arrive. “It was an electric blanket for the dog”, says Schuurmans, though he wasn’t there himself. “They’d probably left it on too long, so the device couldn’t release the heat.” One of the students told the regional broadcaster that the blanket had indeed been left on overnight.

Better keep the hallway clear

A major problem in student houses is that escape routes are often blocked, Schuurmans explains. Beer crates, bike pumps, bits of furniture, mattresses – if those block the exit, it’s much harder to get out during a fire. “And the fire brigade can’t get in”, he says from experience. “We first have to remove the bikes from the hallway. You need to be able to escape. We see this again and again behind many front doors.”

The lack of working smoke alarms is another issue in student houses, says Schuurmans. There should be one on every floor. “And don’t dismantle them. That still happens when students smoke underneath them or burn something in the kitchen. Check monthly whether your smoke alarm works. For instance, on the first Monday of the month when the national test alarm sounds – that seems like a good reminder to me.”

Schuurmans has been seeing the same problems in student houses for years. He’s been active in the fire service since 1985 and has long been involved in prevention work. “At Safe Living, we’ve spent a great deal of time, energy and money promoting fire safety in student houses. At some point, we stopped to focus on other groups, such as older people. You’d visit a student house for an inspection, and a month later the hallway would be full of new stuff again. Or you’d make an appointment with a student house, ring the bell at the agreed day and time – 11.00 am – and a sleepy student in his underwear would open the door saying, ‘Oh right, you were coming, weren’t you? It’s not really a good time now.’”

Still, Schuurmans believes it’s important to keep advising students about fire prevention. His Safe Living department also visits homes for fire safety checks. “Do give us a call – we can always plan a nice drink afterwards if that makes it more appealing.”

An electric scooter in the hallway

October is Fire Prevention Month. This time, the theme is safe charging, with special attention to charging electric bikes and scooters. “There’s even a special website for it: iklaadaccuraat.nl. We’re seeing these things go wrong more and more often. By now, one in three adults owns an electric bike or scooter.”

There are several ways things can go wrong with electric bikes and scooters, says Schuurmans. “It’s not always easy to find a good charging spot – students will definitely recognise that. Recently, we were called out to a fire caused by a scooter that was charging in a bedroom.”

Ideally, you should have a separate room for storing and charging these vehicles (using the original charger), and one with a smoke alarm installed. “Make sure you’re at home and awake when charging, because if the alarm goes off, you still have a chance to save things. Once it catches fire, you won’t be able to put it out yourself.”