A fire ravaged several homes this Sunday morning in Mettet. One person was injured. It was a wooden structure that caught fire. The imprudence of one of the inhabitants probably caused the disaster.
It is 5 a.m. this Sunday morning when the flames surprise the inhabitants of rue Félicien Rops in Mettet, in the province of Namur. “My wife got up to go to the bathroom and she told me that the building was on fire. We had time to take our things, my dog and we quickly got out…”, says Pascal Lambot, a disaster-stricken resident. The structure of the building, made of wood, would explain, according to the commander of the fire brigade, the rapid spread of the fire.
Of this two-storey social housing building, nothing remains. 6 apartments were destroyed, and as many households were forced to urgently leave their homes. In the early morning, it was a neighbor who alerted Martine, a neighbor. “I saw in front that the roof was already on fire, but for the cars, I told my grandson to withdraw his car. And I took my dog, my bag and I went out”details the local resident.
To explain this blaze, a probable hypothesis: a resident of the ground floor who would have fallen asleep in her bed, a cigarette in her hand. Wounded, her life is not in danger. “A person was burned. She was transported to the clinic”underlines Colonel Marc Gilbert, commander of the relief zone “Val de Sambre”.
This Sunday morning, in a rush, neighbors came to the aid of the affected residents. They save what can be saved. “It’s unfortunate for them, they lost everything”slips a neighbor. “Some people have no more clothes, no more furniture… We need to help them”assures the mayor of Mettet, Yves Delforge.
4 households have not found temporary accommodation. The municipality is looking for a solution to shelter them. Should precautionary measures be taken for the other wooden social housing buildings in the locality? The question will be raised this Monday during a meeting between authorities and building managers.
©Photos Johan Koopmans