Particularly heavy fire at the wood processing company on Sint-Bernardsesteenweg: “Nobody injured, but the shed has been completely destroyed.” † Hemiksem

Mayor of Hemiksem Luc Bouckaert (CD&V) would actually attend the local Casa Blanca festival at St Bernard’s Abbey today. Novastar would close the last day of the festival there. “But look at me standing here,” he says with a sporty smile on his face, as he addresses the press, dressed in a fluorescent cardigan.

The fire for which he was called to the scene is nevertheless very serious. “Around 7 p.m., the fire brigade received a call for a fire in a wood processing company,” explains Bouckaert. Coppens D. & Zn is the name of the company in question, which has been located on Sint-Bernardsesteenweg for decades. “The family business, in which only the father and son are active, mainly makes wooden coils around which copper and aluminum wire is wound. Of course, that means that there is an enormous amount of wood stored.”

The biggest difficulty for the fire brigade was that the company is located between different houses in the middle of a residential area. “That made it more difficult to reach the fire. But in the meantime (around 9 p.m., ed.) I can reassure everyone and inform everyone that the fire has been fully described and the danger has now passed.”

Emergency services had to evacuate about 30 homes. “The wind blows the smoke to the rear of the company, where there are still many homes.” When the smoke cools down through the extinguishing system, it rises less easily and therefore descends more quickly over the houses, which causes nuisance. “We evacuated those people and temporarily received them in a municipal reception centre.”

Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, but the damage is considerable. “The company is likely to have been completely destroyed, including the machines and tools it housed. The hall where the fire started has completely burned out. We don’t know anything about the cause yet, because no one was there when the fire broke out. A few years ago it also burned in the company, but then there was talk of arson. Now there is no indication of that.”

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During the long extinguishing works, the Sint-Bernardsesteenweg was filled with local residents who watched everything with suspicion. Many of them were impressed.

“My niece called me and said: ‘It’s burning in Hemiksem, uncle.’ Then I immediately went to have a look,” says the somewhat older Willy. “It looked miserable. When there are so many people, you know that something serious is going on. But the fire brigade was already present in large numbers. Very much for the family. I have known that company for almost 45 years.”

“It went very, very fast,” said Patrick. “The fire spread very quickly. Nothing remains of the shed. I live on the corner here and have been able to follow something out of the bathroom window. Apparently the fire started at the back. I did see a huge flash of flame. And multiple explosions were heard from gas cylinders stored there. For the forklift, and all that. Fortunately, it appears that no other houses were damaged.”

Local residents Veronique and Serge viewed the phenomenon from a distance with their children. “It took them a while to get it under control. The flames stayed very high and we heard some explosions, which I think was a serious one flashover result. At one point, the firefighters on the crane were completely enclosed by the dark smoke. That looked dangerous.”

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Such a large fire is of course not without consequences. Sint-Bernardsesteenweg was closed to traffic from Abdijstraat to Fabiolalaan for a long time. A medical intervention plan was announced just in case, and at least one federal police helicopter circled over the disaster area to help coordinate. There was also a power cut in Hemiksem, and even for a short period in Aartselaar, because an electricity box, which was located right next to the wood processing company, was damaged.

A major problem for the fire service was the problem with the water supply. Nearly all posts in the area had been called in to assist, and they supplied tankers full of water, among other things, to be able to control the fire. At one point, a special, extra-large water hose was even installed to bring in water from a distant source. It is quite possible that the fire brigade will continue to work until late at night.

Casa Blanca was not affected by the incident, as the wind blew the smoke in the other direction. Novastar could therefore simply do its thing for the 2,000 visitors.

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