Flames started up again on Wednesday morning, around 11.15am, on the site of the company Stabilame, a wood specialist, in Mariemburg (Couvin, Namur province), where an impressive fire started early Friday at 4am, say the Philippeville fire department. The expert sent to the site on Sunday by the Prosecutor’s Office confirms the theory of an accident, according to the King’s Public Prosecutor of Dinant. Six men and a Couvin officer intervened Wednesday for around 2 hours.
“There were areas of fire everywhere. Chimneys appeared, which caused air currents”, explained a Philippeville fireman.
The firemen had stayed on call this weekend to avoid the fire starting again.
According to the Couvin mayor, Raymond Douniaux, a fifth of the company was damaged. The biggest area of fire was around a stock of 1,000 tons of logs in a hangar. A large unit made up of several fire departments, civil protection agents and two helicopters dropping water, was deployed to control the flames. A recent production hall and outbuildings used for storage holding pellets, wood bits and bricks were destroyed.
The workers can return to the undamaged areas once the electricity is back.
(Source: Belga)
