1/2 Marc’s chalet burned down completely.
Marc van de Ven has lived deep in the woods of Heeze with his 34 huskies for over twelve years. His chalet burned down completely on Saturday. Marc and his dogs are unharmed, but that’s about all. “I only have the clothes I was wearing that day.”
“It’s like you’ve ended up in hell”, Marc describes his situation. On Saturday, a fire broke out in his house, he still remembers it well.
Marc was inside. Outside on the terrace, as every day, a fire was burning in his open wood-burning stove. Three meters away on a large table were twenty foam mats, which came from a container for kitchen equipment. “I got a gut feeling and walked out, then I saw the foam mats smoldering.”
“Three minutes later the table was on fire.”
With two sticks he tried to get the smoldering piece of foam into the stove, but failed. From then on it went very quickly. “Within seconds the table was on fire. Three minutes later the house was ablaze.” Marc ran inside, because there were two more adult huskies and a ten-week-old puppy. “I called them by name. The two dogs walked out with me, but I couldn’t find the puppy anywhere.”
Marc called 112 and in the meantime tried to save what could be saved. He turned off the main tap on his gas tank and wet his bus, which was parked next to the chalet, with a garden hose. Marc works as a self-employed kitchen fitter and that bus contains all his tools. “He had to get out of there. I ran in twice to get the key, but both times had to go out quickly because of the smoke.” Half of the bus eventually melted, causing about 20,000 euros in damage.
Meanwhile, the emergency services arrived. “I was taken by the arm by someone from the ambulance. I had soot all over, part of my hair was scorched and my face was red. I wasn’t burned. Still they had to take me to the hospital. I still struggled Because I had inhaled smoke, they even wanted me to sleep there overnight.” Marc did not do the latter. He had to go back to his dogs.
The puppy, which Marc thought had not survived the fire, appeared to have brought itself to safety. “That was a huge relief.” Even though his other huskies were doing well. The kennel in which they stay is about 75 meters from his chalet. “The dogs are everything to me. That’s what my whole life revolves around.”
Marc has lost everything else. “All the stuff for my dogs is gone: harnesses, blankets, two dog sleds and 22 bags of dog food. But also everything from me, both privately and for work. I only have the clothes I was wearing at the time, a phone and my wallet.”
“I want to be around my dogs.”
He now sleeps in a caravan that he always uses when taking his dogs to competitions. From that caravan he looks out on his destroyed house. “It’s a sad sight. The mess is knee-high.” He does not have many facilities there, such as electricity. “I charged my phone and a power bank at work this afternoon.” Still, he doesn’t want to be anywhere else with his caravan. “I want to be around my dogs.”
Fortunately, Marc gets help from all kinds of angles. Friends come to bring his clothes and he got a set of pans. “I’ve been doing sled dog sport for 22 years, I’m fairly well known in that world. So people from Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic even come to the rescue. That gives me courage and a warm feeling, despite all the misery.”
Marc’s friends are a donation campaign started. On Friday evening the counter stands at 3300 euros.
Images of the fire:
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Two years ago, Omroep Brabant visited Marc and his 34 huskies:
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