“I am almost certainly bankrupt”: operator sees a bleak future for his company after a serious fire (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw)

Shortly after 4 p.m., a fire broke out at Fernand’s company on Thursday. The site connects the Bergensesteenweg near the former Makro with the Jan Baptist Wautersstraat. Fernand was located in the warehouse closest to the last street. “Now we just have to wait for the insurance,” he sighs. “But then again – I think we left here for a long period of time. I think I’m 99 percent certain to be bankrupt.”

“Normally I still had recognition until 2031, the year I can retire,” says Fernand. “I actually hoped to find a buyer by then. Do I have to look for a new warehouse? Or should I look for work elsewhere? The latter is not obvious at my age. My five employees are now technically unemployed, but I fear that they will really become unemployed.”

Hard work

The man in his fifties has a company where he dismantles cars and recycles or resells the parts. “I used to be a scrap dealer and had my own truck, but twelve to thirteen years ago I settled here in the warehouse,” he says. “The rules did not become any more flexible, which meant that it was always hard work to get everything in order.”(Read more below the photo)

He doesn’t know exactly what happened on Thursday afternoon. “I was working on a van with a grinding wheel,” it sounds. “Suddenly a fire started. Not on the fuel tank as stated, because it had already been removed. I don’t know what exactly caught fire. Together with four employees present, we tried to extinguish the flames and emptied about ten fire extinguishers, but that was in vain.” Because he had inhaled too much smoke, Fernand was also taken to hospital for a check-up. Everything turned out to be fine there.

Danger of collapse

In an L-shape around Fernand’s warehouse was another company where rags were stored. Part of that building collapsed and the rubble ended up on Fernand’s car, among other things. A wall that is still standing is extremely unstable, which means there is still a risk of collapse. “That is why we are going to close everything here, now that the insurance experts and the counter-expertise have visited,” says Roxane De Lee (38), owner of the site. The extensive building contains several warehouses containing eleven companies. (Read more below the photo)

“This is a tough one, especially on a financial level,” says the woman. “The site belonged to my father and uncle, but we bought out my uncle, which required a loan. We paid that off with the rent, but two tenants are now gone. So we hope that the insurance company will act quickly. And in addition, there is the safety problem with the wall that is about to collapse. Many disaster tourists were already walking around here today. Some for Instagram, others as urbexer. There is no other option than to tear everything down as quickly as possible.”

Padel courts

Roxane actually hopes to get rid of the industry on the site soon. “I wanted to house padel courts with a cafeteria in the two affected warehouses,” she says. “And I wanted to build a new building on the vacant land next to the site, including a trampoline park. But the mayor did not allow it, because it is an industrial zone. In the meantime, I see the people in Jan Baptist Wautersstraat leaving. And honestly, I wouldn’t want to live in an industrial zone like that either. So we’ll have to take a closer look at everything in the coming weeks. On April 3, the site was inspected by the fire brigade and found to be in good condition. And then this happens three weeks later.”