According to the fire brigade, the fire started in an old ventilation system. “We are trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the roof,” says fire brigade spokesman Walter Derieuw. The fire is now under control and the construction workers and crane operator have been brought to safety, Derieuw said. There are no injuries.
The fire in the building on Anspachlaan, where renovation work is underway, was noticed around 10:30 am. The workers and crane operators were able to get to safety, while the fire brigade arrived on site with several fire extinguishers, ladder trucks and ambulances. To extinguish the fire, the fire brigade used a ladder with a length of 64 meters.
The Brussels police also set up a perimeter. Travelers on public transport experienced inconvenience between 10.40 and 11.40 am, the STIB spokeswoman said. Metro 1 and 5 temporarily did not stop in De Brouckère and buses 71 and 29 were also diverted.
Brand new multifunctional building
Until the end of 2022, the building housed the administrative services of the city of Brussels and the bpost headquarters. The services of the City of Brussels moved to the brand new Brucity building, a few hundred meters away, and bpost moved to the other side of the street.
Since then, the building has been transformed into a multifunctional building for which renovation works are currently underway to transform the building into Oxy by 2027, a project with offices, catering establishments, hotels and apartments.
