About thirty volunteers went to the Sacramentskerk in Breda on Saturday morning to remove the soot damage with a bucket and cloth. After three hours of cleaning, the worst traces of the fire that broke out on Friday were gone. A relief for board member Adriaan Weterings. “Several concerts were planned this weekend. They can all go ahead.”
Who is the perpetrator? Weterings has no idea. “The police have done an investigation. The building has not been used as a church for years. It is an activity location. But nowadays you hear something in the news every day about fires and explosions.”
“The large mural at the front was not visible.”
The damage is clearly visible a day later. The door is completely destroyed. The stained glass is severely damaged and the window frames are also affected. “They will be replaced next year,” says Weterings.
He got a call about the fire on Friday. “When I got here the whole church was full of smoke. I was standing at the back of the building and the large mural at the front was not visible.”
A special company used two machines to suck all the smoke out of the building at night and refresh the air. A day later there is only a slight smell of smoke. The floor, chairs and musical instruments have all been cleaned. Weterings is happy that all performances can go ahead this weekend.
“Everyone brought cleaning solution, a bucket and a cloth and spread out across the church.”
Volunteer Jeanne Weterings finds the support of all the volunteers who came to clean ‘heart-warming’. “Everyone brought cleaning solution, a bucket and a cloth and spread out across the church. Yesterday everything was black and now it is clean again and the concerts of the various choirs can continue. I am very relieved.”
READ ALSO: Church set on fire: ‘If it is something against faith, you are wrong’