Vosselaar (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Firefighters from the Taxandria Fire Department quickly controlled smoke from a baking oven at Centrum Municipal Primary School, Vosselaar. Mayor Gilles Bultinck confirmed that 2 teachers were checked; no injuries were reported.
As GVA News reported, firefighters responded to the Centrum Municipal Primary School in Vosselaar, in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, on Thursday morning, Nov 27, 2025, after smoke was reported in the school cafeteria.
The Taxandria Fire Department received the alarm at 11:15 a.m. and immediately sent teams to the school on Konijnenbergpad. Staff and students were guided to safety while emergency teams worked to ensure the building was secure.
“Pepernoten being baked in an oven had caught fire,
said Gilles Bultinck (Volk*), mayor of Vosselaar.
“The fire department arrived quickly and quickly brought the situation under control. We evacuated a total of two hundred students to the children’s club rooms at Bergakker.”
What caused the smoke at Vosselaar school, and were the students safe?
By Thursday afternoon, Nov 27, 2025, officials confirmed that the school was completely safe. Students were allowed to return to their classrooms, and lessons resumed as scheduled in the afternoon. No injuries were reported during the incident.
2 teachers at the Centrum Municipal Primary School in Vosselaar were checked by emergency services after trying to put out smoke in the school cafeteria. Authorities said the teachers may have inhaled a small amount of smoke, but their condition was stable.
Gilles Bultinck, spokesperson for the fire department, confirmed that all emergency plans worked perfectly. The fire brigade removed the oven that caused the smoke to prevent further risk. Firefighters also ventilated the classrooms thoroughly to clear the air.
The Centrum Municipal Primary School in Vosselaar has been part of a long-term redevelopment plan for the village centre. In November 2023, the municipality completed a land swap with the local church to expand and improve the school grounds and nearby green spaces.
In July 2024, authorities approved a project to renovate and rebuild parts of the school, preserving older sections from 1933 and 1960 while constructing modern classrooms. The plan will create a new school building of about 3,303 m². Since August 2022, traffic measures and bike streets have been introduced around the school to make it safer for children walking and cycling.
