A fire broke out at a student rugby clubhouse in Rotterdam on Saturday afternoon. It could have been a disaster if not for a secret weapon: the team’s 130-litre beer stash.
When the kitchen of the clubhouse on Prinselaan caught fire, the building was empty.
The flames reached all the way to the ceiling, dangerously close to gas pipes and electricity cables.
READ NEXT | 15 international sports you can easily play in the Netherlands
At that point, “the clubhouse could have gone up in flames,” Rotterdam Student Rugby Club president Guus Hoofdman tells AD.
Crisis averted
Luckily, the camera system detected the fire, and emergency services rushed to the house.
When they arrived, however, they found that their job had been stolen by an unlikely ally: the built-in beer pipe.
The pipe exploded in the heat, turning it into a hose and showering the kitchen with enough beer to put out the fire. Amen! 🙏
No major loss (except for beer)
The heroic pipe gave this story a happy ending.
Apart from some minor damage to the kitchen, the clubhouse and its players were unscathed, and the team will be able to kickstart the upcoming season as planned.
READ MORE | Dutch Quirk #99: Drink beer like it’s a national sport
While renovation costs will weigh on the club’s limited finances, the team is not too worried.
“We have a few kegs of specialty beer that will keep us going for a while,” says Hoofdman. Proost to that!
Do you think you own enough beer to put out a fire? Tell us in the comments below.