Marvin Gage from Oss still can hardly believe it. Someone tried to set fire to his work bus on Sunday morning. The images show how the perpetrator messes around the right front wheel, after which a huge blowtorch follows. It seems that the arsonist also sets himself on fire, Marvin also sees. “It’s really a huge amateur.”
The bus was parked at the Denariuspad in Oss. Marvin and his girlfriend had been out together in the city center and didn’t get home until around 4:30 in the morning, an hour and a half later his Mercedes bus was set on fire. The perpetrator and the huge blowtorch are filmed by several cameras.
“A happy accident.”
By a small miracle, Marvin’s bus didn’t burn down completely. “My tire burst after a while due to the heat and the fire seems to have largely gone out. Really a lucky accident.” His neighbor across the street then extinguished the last flames and warned Marvin.
He is a roofer and is extremely busy at the moment and cannot miss his bus at all. “Fortunately, there was no gas bottle in it now, because if the bus had caught fire completely, it could have been a major explosion.”
“The perpetrator seemed to be looking and that’s pretty scary.”
Marvin has no idea why his bus was targeted. “I don’t have enemies and arguments or anything,” he says. “I have had images from neighbors showing how the perpetrator cycles through the neighborhood and seems to be looking, and that is quite scary.”
The roofer has found firelighters and bottles of the flammable liquid in the bushes. He filed a report with the police on Sunday morning and, according to Marvin, they immediately started a neighborhood investigation. Oss has been dealing with a remarkable number of car fires for some time, Marvin also knows. “Just never in this neighborhood and I also live on a dead end street where you can’t leave quickly.”
“He must be at least missing his eyebrows and some hair himself.”
The camera images clearly show that the arsonist completely disappears in the flames when he ignites the flammable liquid. “That boy must have been on fire himself and is at least missing his eyebrows and some hair.” As much as Marvin thinks it’s about his bus, he had to laugh about it himself. “When you see what an amateur this is and how he runs away, I hope he feels it for now.”
Yet he is also concerned, because his bus survived the attack. “Only the dealer won’t pick it up until Monday, so I hope the perpetrator doesn’t come back to finish the job.”
“Amazed that there is so little damage.”
Because despite the huge blowtorch, the damage seems to be not too bad, according to Marvin. “I’m really surprised. At first glance it’s just some soot damage, my front screen is a bit warped and some pipes are damaged, but we’ll see. I’m not an expert.”
Whether there may be a connection with the many car fires in Oss is unclear. Police were unavailable for comment on Sunday.
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