These were blood-curdlingly exciting hours for the Proloc company in Lieshout, which is only five meters away from the business complex that went up in flames on Tuesday evening and night. Jos van de Westerlo saw with fear and trembling how the meter-high flames almost touched his company. Thanks to the efforts of the Aarle-Rixtel fire brigade, which kept the facades wet, the building remained almost undamaged.
The day after the major fire, the employees of Proloc, which supplies edgebanding, glue and sealant for construction, are still recovering from the shock. Jos stayed at his company until half past four at night. “I kept thinking we saw our building burning down, the blaze was so big,” he says, while the fire brigade is still busy extinguishing the rubble next to it.
“It was very exciting, we thought on Tuesday that our company was gone,” says Jos. “When we saw the sea of fire, literally flames from meters high against our building, we thought: it has happened. The fire brigade did a great job,” says Jos with relief.
“I live nearby, but when I arrived everything was already lost.”
The grief of the three entrepreneurs who worked there is great at the burned down business premises. Two of them are too emotional to tell their stories. Willem Christiaens from the trading company Helmco comes to assess the damage together with his son. “We received a call from the emergency center in Eindhoven on Tuesday evening. I live nearby, but when I arrived everything was already lost,” he says. When he wants to continue talking, the emotions become too much for him and he fills up.
Miraculously, Prolec only has smoke and soot damage and a few cracked windows. Work will continue on Wednesday morning, as best as possible. Inside it still looks spotlessly white. “We can do almost anything today, but a special company will come to remove the burning smell,” says Jos. The employees spent no more than two hours in bed last night. “The man with the hammer will come this afternoon,” says Jos.
