The smell of fire at bungalow park De Rekere near Schoorldam can still be smelled, and there are flowers and cards in the letterbox of the house that burned down on Wednesday. The close-knit community at the park cannot yet comprehend that their neighbor, who they believe died in the fire, is no longer there. “Many people at the park know her,” says neighbor Dennis with a lump in his throat.
They call her ‘someone with the heart in the right place’: “She would give away her last euro and was very involved”, Dennis says. Police have not yet confirmed that the deceased person found is actually the neighbor in question.
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Dennis lives less than five meters from the house in question. He discovers the fire when his cat enters the bedroom and wakes him up. “When I looked through the window from my bed, I saw a bright orange glow through my slats,” Dennis says.
When he opens his window he sees that something is wrong: “I’m like ‘fire, fire!’ started screaming out the window and drummed hard on the window to wake people up,” Dennis says. After alerting the emergency services, he quickly walks towards the fire.
“I woke up to all the banging and screaming, that turned out to be my neighbor”
Arriving at the fire Dennis first decides to see if someone is still sleeping in the house next door. “I woke up to all the banging and screaming, that turned out to be my neighbor,” says neighbor Vera, still very shocked. “I live two meters next to the burned-out house and I have been very lucky.”
anxious
When Vera is outside, she notices that someone with a fire extinguisher is cooling her roof: several shocked residents bring fire extinguishers and they have cooled the roof with all their might. “The adrenaline rushed through my body, I only noticed a day later that I had been standing in glass,” Dennis says.
The next day, Vera and Dennis’s adrenaline is over and they realize what has happened. “I am anxious and now sleep with my parents,” says Vera. She still can’t sleep at home. “The smell of the fire can still be smelled in the park and I didn’t sleep a wink with my parents last night. It’s really terrible.”
Very sad
Vera and Dennis are positive about the municipality, who immediately sent a letter the next day, offering to hold a neighborhood meeting. “I think such a meeting helps; I notice that everyone is very shocked,” says Vera.
“After such an event you start to think differently. We live here in wooden houses and you now see that things can go so wrong”
Another resident of the park says that people are now all checking their fire alarms: “Yes, this is a minor trauma.”
That night there was little wind, which prevented more suffering. “After such an event you start to think differently. We live here in wooden houses and you now see that things can go so wrong”, says neighbor Dennis.
He also notes that there are many older single people who are concerned. He also finds it difficult himself. “I can’t quite get it yet, but it’s terrible, I’m very sad.”
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