It will likely be months before the residents of 19 apartments in Breda are able to go home. Property company Laurentius reports this to Omroep Brabant on Wednesday. At the end of December, a major fire broke out in the garage under the apartment complex on the Chabotstraat. 100 homes were evacuated. Now the police suspect arson. No one has been arrested yet.
The December 28 fire burned several cars and damaged the building’s foundations. That is why it is still not safe for the residents of the nineteen apartments above the garage to go back. On Wednesday, about 20 cars that had remained in the parking lot after the fire were towed away.
More months of patience
Residents will have to wait a little longer. How long exactly is therefore not clear and will also differ per house.
“It was a big fire with a very big impact,” says housing manager at Laurentius Anneke Creemers. For example, the building’s foundations were damaged, which can make it dangerous to let people back into the building.
The utilities are also disrupted, leaving many apartments without water and electricity. “The sewage system has also been disrupted by the fire. All of this needs to be fixed before residents can return to their homes.”
arson
Residents previously suspected the fire was deliberately started. There had already been several fires in the garage. It was the third time in four days. The carabinieri confirmed the residents’ suspicion: they also speculate arson.
“Nobody has been arrested yet,” says Willem van Hooijdonk, spokesman for the West Brabant police, “we’ve already received several reports from residents.”
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Laurentius called security, who is now 24-hour in the building. “Some homes are uninhabitable and we don’t want residents or others to enter them,” Creemers says.
