| What are we doing?
November 9th, 2001 00:34 hrs. And so it goes on. Haarlem burns, for the second consecutive night - that is to say, the Thorbecke quarter does. Two lots burning, and counting. Pretty orange flames three metres high, as I spend my time working with Max, on this. The view, at less than a 100 metres distance, begins to take on apocalyptic shape and I feel just like Nero, only with 1 major difference - I would not burn Rome. 01:00 hrs. The fireman have been by and the blaze appears to be extinguished. 04:00 hrs. That turned out to be a false impression as it burns once more. No firemen to be seen, but the fire seems to be minor, for the moment. 05:00 hrs. Even when speaking of arson in the Thorbecke quarter, quality eventually exceeds quantity, it turns out. They haven't set fire to any more buildings, but the same blaze as before now rages with renewed alacrity: flames metres high, lapping up from the roof. Just as, for the umpteenth time these twentyfour hours I get through to Haarlem police central I see a hosing fireman appear above the flames, in a laddercontainer-with-floodlight. He's gone again rather quickly, since at this point a thunderstorm erupts, with lots of lightning, making it quite unpleasant to be in so high a position. But the firefighting continues, and in between the flashes of lightning it all the more feels like being in the middle of a wartime bombardment. 08:30 hrs. Flames are still breaking through the roof. 09:00 hrs. Ah! Only smoke left, beneath clear blue skies on a sundrenched morning. Not only have the flames been put out, but also, as they're still busy putting out the fire they've also started tearing down what was burning, with a large yellow bulldozer. They should have done that before the fires, of course, but it pleases me that it happens at all. Although. Large. Yellow. Hmz. Didn't I read something, somewhere, sometime, that doesn't put to rest my worries about the present situation as a whole? It's a good thing there's a pile of fresh towels next to me, as I survey my own personal Ground Zero.   
14:32 hrs. The local newspaper tells me it's all much worse than I thought: there were many more houses burning than I could see from my window, and the efforts of the firemen were hindered by belligerent youths, cutting through the firehoses and pelting the firemen with street bricks, before being chased off by police. "No one was arrested." Should I be surprised? In a later edition of that very same local newspaper, diligently saved by my mama, I read that, on this second day, the fires weren't set by the quarter's inhabitants themselves, but by troubleseeking youths from IJmuiden, attracted by observations made by way of police scanners. This version is later confirmed by local Mirjam, who works in my regular bar and lives in the quarter. She also informs me that the fire on the first day actually was lit by the inhabitants themselves, as a protest against, amongst other things, the low amount of financial compensation offered to those having to move, and the refusal of the city council to disconnect the gas in the empty lots.  <MODE: SARCASM>The Haarlem city council shows its best side anyway, by now quickly proceeding to tear down the empty houses, and through Jan Haverkort, who comes to go and imitate George Bush, standing on the smouldering ruins.</MODE: SARCASM> He's got the gall to blandly announce that my personal safety can no longer be guaranteed, then to give this commentary, standing on those ruins: "The city council has not foreseen this kind of idiocy" (sic) and "This stresses me out" and "I wouldn't dare to sleep here any longer either".
I, of course, have to do just that. And I do, most calmly. You see, if the council does nothing, the Harmenjansquarter will guard itself. And it may sound strange, but as soon as that happens, I suddenly sleep very well. Do come and spend a night at my place, dear Haverkort. I guarantee you that those ruins will not be the only thing to then stress you out. Yellowbelly. Moronic mutt. Botching Governot. (Photos: Haarlems Dagblad) |
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