Sjaak Tebbens is the former owner of construction and contracting company Tebbens. His family business has gone up in flames. “I bought it from my father-in-law,” he says. His son took over the company three years ago. “I feel so bad for him. He just started doing this three years ago and now he has to deal with this.”
The fact that there is so much history in the company makes it extra intense. Especially the fact that irreplaceable items have gone up in smoke hurts him a lot. “I had my father’s things here, homemade things, certificates, things like that, I think that’s terrible,” he says, visibly affected.
Garage owner heard explosion from nearby
Daniel de Droog, owner of De Droog Automotive, was working in the car garage when he noticed something was wrong. According to him, at first there was only a fire, after which he heard a loud explosion that was ‘clearly very close’. “The plates came from the ceiling,” says the owner.
According to those involved, the fire started in the shed next to the garage and the construction company. The owner of that warehouse rents the building to six different tenants. He asked the tenants if they knew how the fire started. “They all know nothing,” he says.
Six cars saved
De Droog responded quickly when he got wind of the fire. “The first thing I thought was: get rid of the cars.” This allowed him to drive six more cars out. One car was still on a bridge in the garage and could not be saved. De Droog says it can be considered a total loss.
The 23-year-old garage owner watched in disbelief until six o’clock in the evening as his company went up in flames. “The place I built with my own hands since I was 20, and now it’s gone.”
‘Snack bar did good business’
About an hour after the explosion, ‘the whole thing collapsed’, says De Droog. The insurance does not cover the entire damage. That is why De Droog started a fundraising campaign. “Although the material is actually only half the damage.”
One of the owners of the cars parked at De Droog was told by the police that his car was in the adjacent parking lot. The police were able to tell him that the car had not sustained any damage.
Although De Droog was affected by the traumatic event, he was still able to make jokes. For example, he said that it was very busy on the dike yesterday: “The snack bar here did good business.”