BY LOTTA STOKKE
Six students were forced to find alternative accommodations for the night on Friday after the fire brigade deemed their house in the Poelestraat a fire hazard.
At around 3:30 PM, the students noticed the smell of gas in their home. Suspecting a gas leak, they called the national emergency hotline. When the fire brigade arrived, the students were ordered to open all windows and evacuate the building.
The firefighters – who entered the building wearing gas masks – found that the house was not fireproof: smoke detectors had been covered with shopping bags and escape routes were blocked by trash bags and other objects. As a result, the students had to spend the night elsewhere, although they were allowed to briefly return to the house after approximately three hours to grab essentials for the night.
Carbon monoxide
The fire brigade also detected an alarmingly high concentration of carbon monoxide in an adjacent building. This was caused by the exhaust fumes from a machine used for renovating work. All surrounding buildings were checked and ventilated, and no one is known to have been poisoned.
Carbon monoxide, due to its odourless, tasteless, and colourless nature, is known as a ‘silent killer’. In this instance, it was fortunate that the students were alerted in time by a different scent, likely originating from the same machine. ‘We learned a very good lesson from this’, says Camiel (20), one of the residents and a business administration student at the UG.
The six housemates urge others to take necessary precautions. Responding to pressure from the fire brigade, they thoroughly cleaned their house and ordered carbon monoxide detectors.