The police arrived on site at 7:15 p.m. to secure the scene. Firefighters were already at work and were deploying great measures to extinguish the flames escaping from the roof. There are no injuries. The people present at the hotel were evacuated and taken to a room not very far away, also owned by the LPM group.
The fire apparently started in the sub-roof before spreading into the roof itself. At 9:15 p.m. the building was still on fire and there was significant water damage.
Thirty firefighters on site
“The Wagyu is destroyed and it will certainly be months before it can reopen“, declares the mayor Philippe Bontemps, who rushed back down from Tohogne to Durbuy, barely finished with the oath-taking. While his advisors were drinking a glass of friendship, he was taking measures to close the Durbuy bridge in traffic, during the intervention of firefighters around thirty coming from the Marche-en-Famenne, Hamoir, Érezée barracks, who were still on site at 10 p.m. where they were supplied. At that time, the fire was under control, but not yet extinguished.
Marc Coucke: “Courage to my team… We will be back!”
“The fire is not yet under control“, indicated Marc Coucke at 7:45 p.m.Courage to my team, they worked so hard after the floods. December was full…”. “I’m afraid we’ll have to build a new hotel, it’s terrible“, he then clarified to our colleagues at VRT Nws. “The damage is enormous, but we will be back !” (Editor’s note: “We will come back!”)
The flames quickly spread to the roof of the hotel, causing significant damage. “A large part of the hotel burned down. Many items had to be dismantled to gain access to the fire. Added to this is water damage“, underlines the commander of the Luxembourg emergency zone, Stéphane Thiry.
At only 24 years old, the sommelier of this emblematic Walloon restaurant has just been voted best in Belgium
Around sixty rooms occupied
Around sixty rooms were occupied when the disaster broke out, continues the co-owner of the premises. “The main thing was to evacuate the customers. Everyone is safe and sound.”explains Wout Bru. The evacuated people were sheltered and rehoused in surrounding hotels for the rest of the night, underlines the fire commander.
“December is the most important month of the year for us”
The fire comes as the end-of-year holidays approach, a crucial period for the many establishments which enliven the old town of Durbuy, the tourist jewel of the province of Luxembourg. “December is the most important month of the year for us. The year is lost, that’s for sure“, deplores Wout Bru.We still have outdoor restaurants. But people come to Durbuy mainly to stay in hotels and to dine in the evening at restaurants. We’ll see how people react. I hope they don’t let us down. We need it now.”.
This Belgian city is known for being the smallest in the world
