Ravels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ravels fire department and municipality seek 300 volunteers for a March 19, 2026, disaster drill at De Wouwer centre. Coordinator Sam Maerien leads the large-scale exercise.
As VRT News reported, the fire department and the municipality of Ravels, in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, are calling for 300 volunteers to join a large-scale disaster exercise on March 19, 2026. The drill will test emergency preparedness and the coordination of fire, medical, and municipal teams during a major incident.
What is happening in Ravels’ March 19 drill with 300 volunteers led by Sam Maerien?
Sam Maerien, the municipality’s emergency response coordinator, said the drill will focus on the De Wouwer community centre. A 3-hour evacuation will take place on the evening of the exercise. Maerien added that smaller evacuation drills have been done at the centre before, but never on this scale.
“Together with the fire department, police, and medical services, we’ll explore how this can be done smoothly, where people will go, and what the flow will be like outside,”
Sam Maerien said.
The large-scale disaster exercise in Ravels is open to everyone, including people who do not live in the municipality.
“You do have to be at least 18 years old; that’s for insurance reasons,”
says Marien.
“But people in wheelchairs, for example, are also welcome, so it can be a realistic exercise.”
“It’s a unique behind-the-scenes look that you rarely get and hopefully shouldn’t get too much of ”
Emergency Plan Coordinator Sam Marien
“It’s a unique look behind the scenes. If something goes wrong, how the fire department and police respond that’s a glimpse you rarely get, and hopefully, you shouldn’t get too much.”
Anyone who wants to take part can register on the Ravels municipality website. Officials encourage volunteers from across the region to join the exercise and take an active role in the operations. By including members of the public, authorities hope to improve awareness of safety procedures.
In the past, Ravels held a number of emergency drills at the De Wouwer community centre. In 2018 and 2021, smaller exercises evaluated fire response and police coordination. Other Belgian cities have also carried out large emergency drills in recent years.
In 2019, Antwerp held a chemical spill exercise, which involved coordinating fire, police, and medical teams. In 2020, Ghent conducted a flood evacuation exercise with hundreds of volunteers. In 2021, Leuven held an exercise that included a jungle gym fire and the subsequent evacuation from the building.
