A fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in the squat in Paleizenstraat where hundreds of asylum seekers have been staying for months. Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire, which was quickly brought under control. A few people with minor injuries were treated at the scene, but no one has been taken to hospital so far.
The fire started a little after 1 pm in a room on the third floor and a lot of smoke immediately developed. The fire brigade quickly extinguished the fire thanks to three fire trucks, two ladders and three ambulances.
“We attacked the fire from both the outside and the inside of the building,” says Brussels fire service spokesman Walter Derieuw. “Once the fire was extinguished, we ventilated the building.”
The fire service wanted to evacuate people from the other floors as a precaution. “They refused to evacuate. Search and rescue was therefore complicated,” says Derieuw.
The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but Derieuw does confirm that “among other things, a mattress caught fire”. The fire brigade left around 3.30 pm. The residents of the third floor have to look for another place to sleep in the building.
Firefighters smashed the windows in the room where the fire broke out. This was necessary to extinguish the fire, but will make it more difficult to heat the room. The municipality of Schaerbeek wants to have the municipality declared uninhabitable. There is still a strong smoke smell.
1000 Residents
According to the latest estimates, about a thousand people are staying in the building. A significant number of them are said to be in an ongoing asylum procedure and are therefore entitled to a reception place in the Fedasil network, but that has been saturated for more than a year.
In addition, there are also people who are currently homeless and have found shelter at 48 Paleizenstraat, as well as unaccompanied foreign minors. Identifying residents is difficult.
The mayor of Schaerbeek, Cécile Jodogne (Défi), previously warned that the building is not suitable to accommodate so many people. After all, it has not been approved in terms of fire safety and there are insufficient sanitary facilities.
In addition, infectious diseases such as scabies, tuberculosis and diphtheria are circulating in the building and there is growing insecurity. At the end of last year there was a stabbing, knife fights were reported several times and a resident died, presumably due to an overdose of medication.
“This catastrophic situation has gone on for too long and it is critical that this building is emptied quickly,” Jodogne reiterates. “This must start with the relocation of the asylum seekers who fall under the responsibility of Fedasil.”
De Moor ‘Very Concerned’
State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole De Moor (CD&V) has responded to the fire via social media.
“Very concerned about the situation in Paleizenstraat,” she writes. “The fire is said to be under control. Fedasil has removed 114 people with a right to shelter from there in the past three weeks. We will continue that, but everyone will have to take their responsibility”, referring again to the proportion of residents in the squat who are not in there is an ongoing asylum procedure and should therefore not be taken care of by Fedasil, although it is not clear how large that group is.
This article is originally published on .bruzz.be
