The fire in a farmhouse with a large shed on Hoofdstraat in Roderwolde was not started, the police report. A day after the fire you can see how extensive the damage is. There are fences around the building.
It remains unclear what the cause was. The Drenthe Safety Region has announced that it will not investigate this further.
The major fire started on Tuesday morning in a barn attached to a farmhouse. This and a separate building went up in flames, the house is also uninhabitable.
Two families lived in the affected buildings, all on the same property. “I feel very sorry for them,” Mayor Klaas Smid said on Tuesday. For the time being, the residents have been provided with a place to sleep through a bed and breakfast and friends.
The Christmas Eve service took place in the Jacobskerk, near the farm, but in a modified form. For example, the fire was discussed, which had an enormous impact on the village. Pastor Harm Jan Meijer says: “It gave an extra charge to the service. We mentioned it right away in the beginning.”
Although it took some time to switch gears. “We had of course prepared it, but it no longer fit the situation. You also try to make a link with what is going on in the rest of the world. That people in other parts of the world are also losing their homes , but now it is suddenly close.”
Meijer noted that interest in the service was slightly greater than in previous years, “but of course I don’t know whether this was due to the fire and therefore people felt the need to come to the service.”