Apartments above a supermarket on Van Gentlaan in Breugel were temporarily evacuated on Monday evening because the roof of the supermarket was on fire. There were also two gas bottles on the roof that could explode.
The fire marshal’s signal has now been given. The gas bottles have been cooled by the fire brigade. The roof was inspected with a thermal camera. The fire brigade has returned to the barracks.
The store has fire damage to the roof and water damage inside. The residents can return to their apartments. No one was injured in the fire.
Bystanders were kept at a great distance during the fire. The fire brigade feared an explosion of the gas bottles. “We want the people who live there to be safe first,” said a spokesperson for the fire brigade.
‘Unpredictable scenario’
That is also the reason why the fire brigade scaled up to a major fire. An additional fire vehicle came to the fire to assist with the evacuation. An additional officer on duty also attended the fire. The supermarket started evacuating earlier.
“As long as the gas bottles are there, it is an unpredictable scenario in terms of size and size. That is why we are deploying extra hands for the evacuation,” said the fire brigade spokesperson.
It is still unclear to the fire brigade why the gas bottles were on the roof. Nothing is yet known about the cause. The supermarket does not want to respond to questions, an employee said.