At the time the fire started, around fifty guests were staying at the hotel. Fortunately, everyone was evacuated in time. If some have decided to shorten their stay, others are extending it, notably at the “Le Saint-Amour” hotel.
Significant human and material resources have been mobilized. Around thirty firefighters from Hamoir, Erezée and Marche-en-Famenne intervened. The CEO of LPM warmly thanks the firefighters but also the police and the municipal authorities for their rapid intervention.
The damage has not yet been quantified but it is less significant than what Marc Coucke and Wout Bru, the owners of the hotel complex, feared on Monday evening. The fire destroyed a small part of the roof and damaged around twenty rooms located on the 3rd floor. “The 22 rooms located in the old part of the Sanglier des Ardennes, on the Ourthe side, were not affected by the fire, continues Benoît Bronckart. If we have the agreement of the authorities, they will reopen this Thursday, December 5. In the other wing of the building, work will have to be carried out before reopening, probably before Christmas. In December, the hotel is almost full and contacts have been made to reassure customers whose reservations are in progress.”
The mayor of Durbuy, Philippe Bontemps, took security measures on Monday evening to facilitate the intervention of the emergency services. “I took the urgent decision to close the Durbuy bridge to traffic.” he specifies. If the fire had broken out over the weekend, the situation would have been much more complicated to manage. On Saturday, the Christmas market attracted around 20,000 people and the Old Town was closed to traffic from 5 p.m. due to the number of poorly parked cars. Next weekend, controls will be reinforced. Motorists will be directed to a relief car park where shuttles will be set up.
