It is around half past four when Maikel wakes up to a fire alarm. As he opens his eyes, he sees a sea of flames in his attic room, everything is on fire. He jumps out of the sea of fire and saves his 88-year-old grandfather on the floor below. Maikel’s belongings were lost in the fire, including his record collection of 25,000 euros.
The fire was on Sunday morning at De Pompenmaker in Veldhoven. The fierce fire was under control within 45 minutes, but the fire brigade was unable to prevent the attic from completely burning out.
“Then he jumped out of the sea of flames and got grandpa out of bed.”
Grandson Maikel, in his thirties, had just been living in his grandfather’s attic for a few weeks. 88-year-old grandfather Karel has been taken care of by his daughter Jolanda. “He’s doing quite well now. But the blow has yet to come when the hectic pace will soon be gone and he will realize everything.” The man thinks the fire is the worst for his grandson. “He has now lost everything.”
“The grandson was sleeping in the attic and heard the alarm go off,” says neighbor Annemiek de Bruin. “He opened his eyes and saw that he was in the middle of a sea of fire. Then he jumped out of the sea of flames and got grandpa out of bed.”
Annemiek then welcomed her grandfather and grandson into her home. “That boy was barefoot and then I called them in.” The family is happy that Maikel woke up and that he was able to save his hearing-impaired grandfather.
“That’s melted, you won’t be left with anything.”
The fire may have been caused by a charger that became too hot, the neighbor said. The fire brigade does not know the exact cause, but can report that electronics under a desk were the culprit.
All of Maikel’s belongings were lost in the fire. Also his expensive record collection that was in the attic. “It had a value of 25,000 euros,” says Annemiek. “That’s melted, you won’t be left with anything.” Jolanda feels very sorry for her cousin Maikel. “But the most important thing is that they both got out safely.”
The attic is completely destroyed and the rest of the house has extensive water damage. Karel has already been told that he cannot return home for at least three weeks. Until then, he will stay with his daughter Jolanda in Valkenswaard.
