A violent fire broke out on Monday morning in a carwash in Comines, deforming the metal structure of the building, which will probably have to be demolished.
The emergency services of Wallonia-Picardy were alerted shortly after 05:00 on Monday morning that a building was on fire on the Avenue de la Sideho in Comines-Warneton (Hainaut). Two fire engines, a ladder truck and a command vehicle were dispatched to the scene from Comines and Wervick in Flanders.
"The fire started in a carwash, a building that was empty at the time of the fire. It is an all-metal structure through which one car passes at a time to be washed by the machines," said Captain Jimmy Lahousse, who led the response.
The fire brigade remained on site until 06:30 in the morning. "In itself, extinguishing the fire was quick because it was a metal structure," he said.
However, "the heat caused the longitudinal members of the structure to deform. There is now a problem with the stability of the building," he added. "An expert will have to go down to the site to determine whether repairs can be made or whether everything has to be demolished for safety reasons."
The fire is thought to have been caused by an electrical problem.
