Residents of Drachten care flat evacuated due to fire in meter cupboard. Seventy residents have not yet returned home

A fire briefly raged in a care flat on Haverstuk in Drachten on Sunday afternoon. Because of the smoke, the fire brigade evacuated the people and animals in the apartment. No one was injured.

The fire started in a meter cupboard on the second floor. It was discovered by a supervisor at the Aventura healthcare institution.

Aventura uses the first eight floors for its clients with disabilities. The top five floors are occupied by the elderly from Zorg van Toen. There are about eighty residents in total. They and their pets were quickly brought to safety.

Shelter needed

Shelter is needed for seventy residents of the apartment building and a number of pets. The residents of the first five floors were accommodated in the company canteen of the Nij Smellinghe hospital. A number of residents are still outside next to an adjacent shop, the Fryslân Safety Region reports on X.

The residents of the 10th and 11th floors of the apartment building can safely remain in their homes. The 12th and 13th floors are uninhabited. ‘We are currently checking all homes in the apartment building. We can then determine which residents can return to their homes and which residents require longer-term shelter,” the Fryslân Safety Region writes on X.

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