The residents of 22 homes in the Velderwoude apartment complex in Den Bosch are not allowed to return home for the time being. The major fire in the parking garage seriously affected the apartments directly above it. According to the Safety Region, cracks have appeared in the construction. It is not known how long residents will have to survive without their home. The other residents of the complex are allowed to return home on Wednesday evening.
A fire broke out in the parking garage of the complex in Haverleij on Wednesday morning around nine o’clock. This happened after a driver crashed his car into a wall in the garage. The seriously injured man was taken away by air ambulance. The fire was under control by early afternoon.
All apartments were evacuated. The parking garage is located underneath a complex containing 52 homes and 34 apartments. The emergency services such as the fire brigade and Safety Region have checked who can return home and who cannot.
Labeled as unsafe
The municipality had bad news for the residents of 22 apartments on Wednesday evening. The fire damaged the structure of their home, causing cracks to appear. “We cannot estimate what will happen to them, which is why we have labeled them as unsafe,” says the spokesperson for the Safety Region.
It is not clear how long the residents will have to sleep elsewhere. “It is most likely not for 1 night. But that is difficult to estimate. Specialists must further investigate the homes.” The municipality of Den Bosch has arranged accommodation for people who were unable to do so themselves.
Back under supervision
The residents of the other 64 homes will be allowed to return home on Wednesday evening. This is done under supervision. Emergency workers first check each home to see whether it is safe enough. The presence of carbon monoxide is measured and it is checked whether there are soot particles. “If a home still turns out to be unsafe, those residents are not allowed to return,” says the spokesperson for the Safety Region. He estimates that all homes were checked around 1 a.m.
View here how the extinguishing robot worked on the fire: