After Christmas Day, Boxing Day also started in Den Bosch with cleaning up the remains of burnt-out cars. At the Mgr. Another roofer’s bus was set on fire in Schaikstraat. A car next to it also went up in flames.
Bert van Gils has already swept the street. “The municipality is not working today, so I will do that with some people from the neighborhood,” he says.
“At a quarter to six my wife woke me up because a car was on fire. Not mine, after all? I shouted. We heard a loud bang and immediately called the police.”
Local residents are shocked, but also resigned. No one knows the owner of the burned bus, but they all know the roofer’s vehicle.
Two hard thumps
Tonnie van de Wildenberg was also rudely awakened. “We heard two loud bangs. I couldn’t see anything out the back, but I could see the smoke moving through the street. The fire brigade quickly had the two car fires under control.”
“That van indeed belongs to a roofer, but I don’t know where he lives. It’s the umpteenth time around here, just yesterday in the Leyhof.”
A look at the streets around yet another attack shows that many roofers live in the Graafsewijk. “The next time a roofer’s van is parked in front of our door, I will ask him to put it somewhere else,” Bert van Gils shouts determinedly. “I don’t trust a roofer anymore.”
But, a little later he also realizes that that is not possible. “It’s not a nice feeling when such a van is in front of your door, but everyone is allowed to park here.”
Another car in flames
In addition to the roofer’s bus, a passenger car parked next to it was also damaged. “It’s from my friend,” says Lindy, who is terribly disappointed. “There were items in there that had sentimental value and they were destroyed. It was about things from people who are no longer there. We think that is very bad. But now I’m going to try to celebrate Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Bert van Gils cleans up the last mess. The street is clean again and the burned-out wrecks have been removed. “Now just take my car through the car wash and everything will be clean again,” Bert concludes. “As long as there have been no deaths, I’m fine with it.”