Today’s papers cover the horrific news of a fire in a house in Kampen in which four young children died. The AD says they were brothers aged 8, 6, 4 and 1, and were asleep in the attic of the house when the fire broke out at 2:30 am on Wednesday.

The older children and mother (the father was working away from home) tried to put out the fire and, by the time they called for help, there was no hope for the four brothers. The family are strict Christians and Kampen, a traditionally Christian area. “They have great need now of the strength of the Lord,” the local Protestant minister tells the paper.

“No chance in the inferno” is De Telegraaf’s headline. Sleeping in the attic is popular, it says, but dangerous. A fire safety expert tells the paper: “Narrow and steep stairs leading down and a dormer window high off the ground. People must realise that they should be able to get out of that window in an emergency.”

“The smoke from house fires is thick, hot and toxic. It becomes extremely difficult to find a way out. A smoke alarm and emergency ladder are a must. And, people need to practice using them, that goes for children too,” he adds.

Little progress on women in top jobs
To conjure up news at this time of year, the papers sometimes carry out ‘research’ on interesting and worthy issues. De Volkskrant is today helping us through the silly season with its own investigation into the number of women in top jobs. It reports the number of higher management positions filled by women increased to 26.3 percent last year from 24.5 percent in 2007.

However, the figures are not totally reliable: the paper scrutinised 29 leading Dutch firms, but ten of them failed to supply proper data. And this, complains the paper, despite the fact that most, in 2008, pledged to increase the number of women in top jobs. In their manifesto, Talent to the top, they specifically undertook to supply information on the issue.

Philips is singled out as a company where women have a hard time getting to the top. The temp agency, Randstad, on the other hand is doing well. “Eighty percent of vacancies are filled internally,” explains a spokesperson. “That helps women to move up. We also hold annual ambition interviews to find out what career moves people want to make.”

Shortage of homes for autistic adults
On an inside page, Trouw covers the upsetting story of Emmy de Groot and her quest to find a suitable home for her 25-year-old autistic daughter. In 2006, the young woman should have left the clinic where she is living. Since then, however, she has been on the waiting list for a work-home, where she would be given the supervision and structure she needs to lead a happy life.

The clinic is suggesting she move to a home for people suffering from psychiatric and addiction problems. Ms De Groot points out that such a place would not provide anything like the calm her daughter so badly needs: “Someone with autism actually needs as little stimulation as possible. The people walking around there are just too unstable.”

Ms De Groot’s problem is not unique; the paper says one in seven autistic adults are in need of a suitable home. And, the situation is not getting any better. A spokeswoman for the work-home involved in Ms De Groot’s case explains that there is little movement in the system. “The people who come here are often between 20 and 30, and stay for the rest of their lives,” she says.

Beach rescue figures hyped up?
With the hot weather of the past few days, the papers have lots of photos of people by the sea. Nrc.next goes one further and runs a story on the beach rescue service (not to be confused with the lifeboat service).

It says we’re always hearing nowadays about “record numbers of rescues” and asks whether swimming has become more dangerous. The figures appear to answer in the negative: so far this year, 995 people have been rescued from the water; the figure for the whole of last summer was 3116.

The paper puts the plethora of news items about beach rescues down to a new high-profile campaign by the largely voluntary service. Orange cars, a house style, a single logo and name and, most importantly, a decent PR policy. A communication expert tells the paper that the service had “an animal-ambulance image”. After the makeover, “it suddenly looked sexy,” he enthuses.

Weather warning
Still with the weather, the AD runs today’s official weather alert. Temperatures in places are set to rise to the mid-30s Celsius and vulnerable groups and people doing sport are being told to take precautions.

Meanwhile, there is a 60-percent chance of “extreme” weather, with fierce storms developing dangerously quickly in the afternoon. These may bring winds of up to 110 kilometres per hour, hail and large amounts of rain. We have been warned.