A car completely burned out on 1e Vroonstraat in Den Helder last night. A year ago, this owner’s car was also set on fire, at the time by means of a fireworks bomb. In addition to the burned-out car, two more cars and a bicycle were damaged last night. The houses near the car were also damaged: the windows on the front facade broke in several houses. It is the umpteenth car fire in the city in a short time.
“My daughter is sensitive to it, she sleeps badly,” says local resident Jouke Bijl. “It just got better since the last fire, now you have this again and then we start all over again.”
The burning cars were in front of Bijl’s house. His wife’s car was one of two that also caught fire. All the windows in the front of their house cracked from the heat.
Bijl: “This is the second time here, so we quickly realized that it was a car. Go downstairs quickly and call 112 as soon as possible. Yes, a shock. When the emergency services arrived, we had to evacuate, so both the children woken up.”
“I hope that something will be done about it soon, that it will stop one day,” he continues. “The Marechaussee also said to me yesterday: ‘it is every now and then and it is impossible for us to anticipate it. Tonight it can happen in Julianadorp, then again in De Schooten, then again in the center’.”
It happens more often in Den Helder. In recent weeks there has been a fire at least six times a car and also in 2022 there were regular reports of car fires.
“I got out of bed and then I saw the conflagration”
Police are investigating the fires, but cannot say whether there is a trend. “In general, it often concerns incidents that are based on a conflict in a relational atmosphere,” says a police spokesperson. In other words: the result of a quarrel. “It is a relatively simple act with a violent effect. If you have a fight with someone, your name is not immediately above it, but you are right for many thousands of euros in damage.”
Statistically, it is to be expected that this is also the case with the car fires in Den Helder. But, says the spokesman: “It says nothing about the investigations of individual cases that we are doing now.”
Local resident Anita Heijmann lives a bit further down the street. “I woke up from loud bangs. I thought: it must be fireworks again or something. Then I heard broken windows. At first I thought, there must be a fight in the street, because that often happens here. Then I am my bed went out and I saw the conflagration.”
When Heijmann came outside, several local residents had already called 112. She says she stood outside watching for half an hour, until the fire brigade came and she had to go back inside because of the smoke.
The police are also investigating the cause of the fire here. A local resident filmed from his home how the flames broke out last night:
The heat from the fire shattered the windows of nearby homes