The summer Saturday suddenly becomes exciting for shepherd Bart van Ekendonk in the Loonse and Drunense Duinen. His herd grazes in the dunes if a big fire breaks out there in the mid -afternoon. The sheep are safe at that time, but nothing is certain, Van Ekensdonk knows. “If the wind turns, it can suddenly go wrong. The sheep had to leave there.”
“I heard that there was a fire,” says the shepherd soberly. As a precaution, he went to have a look. When it became clear that the fire could not be extinguished for the time being and even expanding to three sides, he switched rapidly. “I got into the car with my dog and called colleagues to help so that we could have the sheep spend the night in different places.”
“First make you get away, where you walk exactly, we will determine later.”
Once on the spot, Bart was just as quiet as Sunday morning on the phone, but the night before on the way to the sheep it was different. “You think: where exactly is that fire, what do I find?” Bart looks back. Upon arrival it turned out that the wind was favorable and the sheep are safe. “But you never know how a fire is developing,” says Bart. “The wind can turn. You prefer to move them on time than accompanied by a lot of stress.”
Hurry was required. “You have to make sure you get away there.” A plan for where the sheep go, he only makes when he starts walking. “First the sheep have to leave there.” He found a hiding place on a heath near Bosch and Duin, an hour’s walk from where the sheep were. “In consultation with the forester, we were able to safely put them there.”
“Tonight the sheep will sleep in their familiar place again.”
The animals themselves remained remarkably calm. “They may have smelled the smoke, but they have not seen any fire. Then I don’t think they are going to be going on.” Moreover, they are used to going with Bart and his dog. “When I go for a walk, they know: we’re going somewhere, just follow the shepherd. That’s routine for them.”
The sheep will go back to the dunes on Sunday evening, to spend the night in their familiar spot on Sunday evening. The fire brigade has given the ‘Brand Meester’ signal. That means that the fire does not just spread.
