Late on Thursday afternoon, a fire broke out in a warehouse at Brussels Cargo Airport Brugargo, in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Machelen. It took firefighters all night to extinguish the blaze. The warehouse was completely destroyed.
The fire that broke out at around 4pm on Thursday produced a large cloud of smoke that could been seen over a wide area. Residents of the municipalities of Machelen and Steenokkerzeel (both Flemish Brabant) were advised to keep their doors and windows closed.
Firefighters from several local fire services worked on tackling the blaze. Initial efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered by an explosion inside the burning building. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire.
The fire was brought under control during the course of the evening. However, firefighters remained on site until Friday morning in case the fire flared up again.
With the help of the Civil Defence Service, the roof of the collapsed building was removed in order to find and extinguish possible sources of the fire.
