Kortrijk (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A fire in a power cabinet on Oudenaardsesteenweg and 10 Akkerdreef left over 100 families without power on February 6, 2025. Firefighters responded, evacuating 11 residents to De Klokke café. Fluvius workers restored power to most by 10 p.m., but high-voltage cabin repairs continued. Laurent Herman managed the cafe during the outage.
On February 6, 2025, a fire broke out after 7 p.m. in a power cabinet at an apartment building on Oudenaardsesteenweg and Ten Akkerdreef. Officials mentioned that this cabinet was important for providing electricity to the area. The fire caused a lot of smoke and flames. More than 100 families lost power. Emergency services quickly put out the fire, and technicians checked the damage to the power grid.
How did a power cabinet fire in Kortrijk leave 100+ without electricity?
The fire made a lot of smoke, which endangered people nearby. To keep everyone safe, officials evacuated a nearby apartment building. 11 residents were moved to a café called De Klokke while firefighters worked. Emergency workers stayed to make sure the fire didn’t spread.
Once the fire was under control, officials started to find out what caused it and checked if the buildings were safe. Local workers also tried to restore power quickly for the families affected by the outage.
Fluvius workers planned the power outage in the area for safety. Laurent Herman, the owner of café De Klokke, said they informed him about the shutdown ahead of time. The café lost electricity, but Herman used extra candles. He mentioned that customers enjoyed the candlelit atmosphere, which reminded them of older times.
“The power didn’t suddenly go out here, but Fluvius employees came to say that they would turn it off themselves for safety reasons,”
Says Laurent Herman.
“So I just put out some extra candles. It was old-fashioned for a while.”
Fluvius worked hard to restore power quickly. Stijn Faelens, a spokesman, said their workers were reconnecting the network to help people and businesses get electricity back. By around 10 p.m., most residents had power again.
However, the high-voltage cabin that caused the outage still needed more repairs. Fluvius said fixing this important part would take more time and would be done later. This will help keep the electrical system stable in the future.
“Our employees are busy reconnecting so that everyone will have electricity again soon,”
Said Stijn Faelens,
