Serious kitchen fire causes a lot of damage in restaurant while operators are travelling: “Called them with the bad news” (Diksmuide)

A serious kitchen fire caused a lot of damage on Wednesday evening in the well-known brasserie ‘t Haantje, near the Ijzertoren in Diksmuide. The pitch-black smoke spread throughout the entire restaurant, while the kitchen itself burned out. The fire occurred while operators Brecht Bertem and Alexander Deceuninck were enjoying a relaxing holiday in Spain. “I had to call them with the bad news. Of course they are shocked,” says father Johan Bertem.

It was a local resident of brasserie ‘t Haantje on the corner of Ijzerlaan and Kasteelstraat in Diksmuide who called the fire brigade. The man had noticed some smoke on a communal wall and did not trust the matter. The suspicion turned out to be correct. When the Diksmuide fire brigade arrived, there was already a lot of smoke coming from the stately building. It was completely closed and no one was there. After all, the operators are traveling. The fire brigade had to force open the door and garage to get in. (Read more below the photo)

Kitchen burned out

“We had to break open a door on the side and the garage to get in,” says fire lieutenant Franck Bolle. “We immediately closed the door with a fire-resistant cloth so that we did not introduce additional oxygen into the building. The fire was located in the kitchen at the back of the business. It has completely burned out. Perhaps the fire had been raging for some time before it was noticed. Because the interior doors were open, the smoke and soot could spread. There is therefore a lot of damage to the restaurant itself. We opened all the windows and ventilated everything extensively because there was a lot of smoke in the building. We do not yet know what the cause of the fire is. In any case, there were no pots or pans on the fire.” The fire brigade ultimately remained on site for several hours, but the fire itself was quickly brought under control. (Read more below the photos)

“Called while traveling”

Several employees and the father of co-operator Brecht Bertem, who runs the business with Alexander Deceuninck, arrived on the scene. They were quite shaken. “They are currently traveling in Spain where they are enjoying a relaxing holiday,” says father Johan Bertem. “I had to call them with the bad news and of course they are very upset. The business is normally closed until next week. Some staff members opened today because a large group came that had already made reservations for a long time. Croque-monsieurs were prepared for them. But that happened in the afternoon, in the meantime the restaurant had been closed for several hours. We don’t know what caused the fire.” It is certain that ‘t Haantje will probably remain closed for some time.