Local residents react emotionally after a woman died in a fire in an apartment in Heeze. The fire on the Berkelmanspad was short, but fierce. According to the police, there is no arson.
Except for a few police officers and people from the forensic investigation, there was little to see on Monday morning on the outside of the ground floor apartment where the fire raged. The door to the hallway that gives access to four apartments is open. There you can see a broken window that was smashed by the fire brigade to enter the house.
Marianne van Geel lives a few doors away. “It was very scary. There were fire brigade, police and an ambulance. I heard sirens, saw flashing lights and many emergency workers. The upstairs neighbor came to tell me that there was a fire with a tragic outcome. I think that is very sad,” she says, tears welling up in her eyes. “It feels very strange and sad. You can’t do anything about it. It happens three doors away and you are powerless. I find that very sad.”
The upstairs neighbor woke up just before five o’clock because his smoke detector went off and called the emergency services. “I heard the siren going very loudly and I thought: is someone sick? But then I saw the fire brigade and the police. That was scary,” says Coby van der Velden, who also lives on Berkelmanspad.
Find comfort in each other
The neighbors turned to each other for support on Monday morning. For example, Coby and Marianne have agreed to drink coffee together. “We want to share it together,” says Marianne. “The other neighbors were also standing outside in the doorway. I couldn’t go there, but you wave to each other. Then you know that we are there for each other. If we visit each other, we will become stronger together.”
The investigation into the ground floor apartment was still in full swing on Monday morning. The forensic investigators walk through the apartment in white suits. Around nine o’clock, mayor Teun Heldens visited the street for the second time. He was also present at the Berkelmanspad early in the morning.
The victim is a woman. The police are not making any further announcements, but say it is not a crime.