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Add as a favourite source on Google Add DutchNews as a favourite source on GoogleMore than 60 fire stations have been targeted in the last year by criminal gangs who steal hydraulic equipment to use in ram raids.

One fire station in Sassenheim, near Leiden in Zuid-Holland, was attacked three nights in a row in the last week, while 10 sites have been broken into across the country in the last fortnight.

Police told NRC the thieves were looking for equipment such as cutting gear and hydraulic jacks used to free people who are trapped beneath rubble.

The machines can be repurposed to break heavily fortified windows used by shops such as jewellers and electrical retailers. Last week thieves left behind a hydraulic spreader that they used to try to smash the window of a jewellery store in Den Bosch.

The number of break-ins has jumped in the last year, with just 18 thefts from fire stations recorded in 2025 and 17 the year before.

“We are trying to strengthen our response teams and making detecting these crimes a national priority,” police spokesman Dick Goijert said.

Safety boards would not say exactly what was taken in the most recent raids because the police investigation is ongoing and to avoid giving “unnecessary information to people with bad intentions”.

Accessibility issues

Fire station managers have tried to improve security, but locking away life-saving equipment means it takes longer to retrieve it in an emergency, when a few lost seconds can make the difference between life and death.

Evert Jansen, a former burglar who now works for the police to raise companies’ awareness of the need to improve security, said he suspected organised criminals were behind the thefts.

“Unless they know how the equipment works it’s difficult for them to use it,” Jansen told NRC. “Maybe the burglars are stealing it on the orders of experienced criminals.”

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