His aunt is standing by her gate with tears in her eyes. On the other side of the Schorrenweg in Oosterend, Bram Boon’s workshop burned to the ground last night. ‘All the hard work’ of the Texel resident has been lost with it. And that too shortly before the anniversary of his father’s death.
It is around 11:30 pm when the fire brigade is alerted to a fire behind the small house in the easternmost corner of Texel, almost against the dike. It concerns the workshop of contractor Bram Boon.
Shortly afterwards, cameraman Jaap Eelman from Texel is ‘beeped’ awake by his telephone. He has to go there to take pictures. “An acquaintance sent a Whatsapp message: there is a big fire. Usually it’s not too bad, but if you get a signal at night you have to be alert.”
When he arrives at the Schorrenweg with his car, things don’t look hopeful. “The plates of the barn were red hot and the flames were well above them. The barn was beyond saving.”
The Security Region says that the firefighters will have everything under control around half past two. But that the barn was indeed completely destroyed.
‘Today is a bad day’
The next day, around noon, the owner looks at his workshop in dismay. The only thing he wants to say to the journalist is: “Everything was here. Everything is gone.”
His aunt Nel lives across the street and she comes to the gate. “I didn’t notice anything at all. My cat woke me up and then the fire brigade was already ready.” According to her, her cousin “had a lot of setbacks.”
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Warehouse on fire in Oosterend on Texel – Inter Visual Studio
“And now he had everything neatly arranged, stuff, it finally went well for him.” She says sadly, “Today is a bad day for us. His father, my brother, passed away during this period. And my father the year before.”
‘Typisch Oosterend’, a television series by BNNVARA from a few years ago, follows her cousin Bram Boon and his family as residents of the village. It also says that the Texel resident suddenly had to take over his father’s company at the age of 19 after his death on July 14, 2008.
“He had to build it himself and was not that old yet,” says his grandmother, who lives on Schorrenweg to his right. They are in the backyard and her grandson has not really spoken today. “He has insurance people and other acquaintances about every time, was called every time. We’ll hear him tonight.”
Cause not yet clear
The shed contained ‘all tools and tractors’ for his company. He does farming jobs all over the island. “It’s terrible. I could cry. I’m very sorry. That boy is doing his best. It went in the right direction and now he loses everything at once. I hope he has good insurance.”
A spokesperson for the Security Region cannot say anything about the cause of the fire. Also there were solar panels on the roof of the pilot that were not connected. No statements are made about how and why they were not connected.
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