The Prinsenmeer holiday park in Asten does not comply with fire safety regulations. This can be seen from a report from the fire brigade, in the hands of Omroep Brabant. Peter Gillis has until the end of January to improve the situation in his park, otherwise the municipality will intervene.
In September, after a visit from Omroep Brabant, it was discovered that the fire safety in one of the mobile homes left something to be desired. Experts warned of, among other things, an open and damaged geyser and a lack of carbon monoxide detectors. The municipality of Asten then communicated that the fire brigade had already carried out an inspection. The report is now available.
The firefighters, together with the municipality, carried out an inspection of the park in June. The report shows that “several facilities are not compliant with fire safety standards,” he says.
Chalets too close together
The chalets on the Prinsenmeer are too close together, according to the fire brigade. If a fire breaks out in one of the chalets, the people in the other chalets won’t have enough time to escape safely. There must therefore be a minimum distance of three meters between the chalets, or there must be a wall in between, for example.
A random check showed that this was not the case in 140 chalets and pitches. Twelve chalets were even against each other, sometimes the distance is not three meters but less than 50 centimetres. That’s not all: “Not all homes have been measured, many others are less than 3 meters apart,” says the report.
Broken electrical boxes
The combination of an open (damaged) geyser and the lack of carbon monoxide detectors rather concerned the experts. Firefighters do not mention carbon monoxide detectors in the report, but smoke detectors are recommended. This is required by law for residential properties, but not for holiday homes. Additionally, firefighters have seen electrical boxes that are “significantly damaged,” allowing moisture to enter.
Oostappen Group has until January 31 to resolve the issues. Then follows a new check. If things are still not in order, the municipality will intervene. This can be done by personally making improvements to the campsite or by imposing an order subject to periodic penalties. You then have to pay for every day the fire safety is not in order.
That fine could then add to the €500,000 the municipality already wants from Gillis over illegal housing of migrant workers on Prinsenmeer.
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