A chimney fire overnight from Saturday to Sunday destroyed the roof of a house in Rothstraat in Vleugt, near Diest, leaving the property temporarily uninhabitable, though no one was injured.
The fire broke out after the residents, an elderly couple, switched on the heating on Saturday evening, mayor Geert Cluckers (DDS) said.
Firefighters were called to the scene and initially brought the blaze under control. However, the fire later flared up again, causing severe damage to the entire roof.
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The fire service deployed a ladder truck and then carried out damping-down operations to extinguish the remaining hotspots.
The couple managed to leave the house in time and were not hurt. They are being sheltered temporarily by neighbours.
From Monday, the city of Diest will provide emergency accommodation so they can stay elsewhere while the house remains uninhabitable.
According to the mayor, city services will cover the damaged roof for now to limit further rain damage. They will then assess what additional measures are needed to protect the property and deal with the roof damage.
Insurance experts also visited the site on Sunday to inspect and assess the damage.
The availability of emergency housing is not guaranteed at present, as many properties are still occupied after a fire in Overstraat during the summer holidays left several families homeless.
