Willebroek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A fire broke out in a storage area at mostly empty Residence Groenlaar, used by a theatre group in Willebroek. No one was injured. Firefighters responded quickly. The cause is under investigation.
AS VRT News reported, a fire started this morning, June 21, 2025, in a storage area at Residence Groenlaar, a partly empty building in Willebroek, in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. The fire department said a local theatre group used the storage space.
They mentioned that it’s not yet known what was inside, but theatre groups often store flammable items like props and costumes. The fire department is still investigating what caused the fire and if the items in the storage area played a role.
What caused the Willebroek fire at mostly empty Residence Groenlaar?
Residence Groenlaar has mostly been empty, with only one person living there. No one was injured in the fire, and the resident was safe. The fire department mentioned that the building next door, Residence Herselaar, is also empty. This made it easier for them to handle the fire quickly. The city planned to tear down both buildings, maybe because they were old or part of a plan to improve the area.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire very quickly and are now determining what caused the fire. They will be looking into all of the electrical systems, the theatre group’s equipment and whether anything was stored improperly. There is no indication that this was intentionally set, but they are still covering all bases.
The fire has people worried about empty buildings in the city. They mentioned that buildings that aren’t being used can be dangerous if they’re not checked on. The city and fire department will say more about what happened after they know what caused the fire, and they might do something to stop this from happening again.
