A historic business premises containing four companies was completely burned down in Helenaveen on Sunday morning. Owner René Martens is devastated. “I immediately jumped out of bed.”
“I heard it this morning when I was called by a tenant,” he says. “At first I thought about a natural fire, because that could be done with this drought. But then they said it was about our building and I thought oh no.”
When René looked at his building on the Rector Nuijtsstraatgeing, there was no saving anymore. “Unfortunately everything is gone. Terrible, such a monumental building that was destroyed by fire. The oldest part was built in 1888. It is just a shame. There were four companies in the building. They now have nothing more.”
“Brand is the worst thing that can happen to you, I always say,” says Martens. He has no idea how to proceed with the companies that were in his building.
Fire
The fire brigade now has the fire under control, but is still leaving with aerial platforms. The burned -down building is still largely demolished today.
The fire broke out around eight o’clock. Due to the smoke nuisance that was also noticeable in the core of the village, an NL-Alert was sent.
The Safety Region advised local residents to stay out of the smoke, close windows and doors and turn off the ventilation in the house.