“Wooden floors, pallets with laminate and PVC, a very large collection of curtains, a stock of oils and types of varnish: it works like no other.” A disillusioned Jaap de Graaf of the Floor Gallery in Roden talks about the fire that completely destroyed a huge warehouse in the village this afternoon. “Of all the units, ours was probably the most flammable.”
De Graaf saw his life’s work go up in flames just before three o’clock in the afternoon. Before he was less than a mile away from a customer, a horror scenario that began for him unfolded in his rearview mirror. “I saw a huge plume of smoke out of nowhere. I drove around the bend like an idiot with squealing tires and then stormed into the warehouse. There’s a fire!”, he shouted to his colleagues.
The few employees tried to limit the damage with two fire extinguishers, but it soon became clear that this was no honor. The fire developed rapidly and a huge cloud of smoke began to form. In the meantime, De Graaf had already started saving what could be saved. He grabs his laptop and bookkeeping in the office, grabs some hand tools and rushes to the car. He leaves the rest.
(Text continues below the photo)