Five killed in unsprinklered apartment building in Antwerp
National and international media report that a fire in an apartment building on 1 July has killed five people in Antwerp, Belgium. Four were elderly residents and the fifth a daughter who was visiting one of them. 16 others were sent to hospital. The fire was reported at 10:00. The cause is believed to be a short circuit that occurred when workers placing a new elctricity cabinet on the ground floor pierced a water pipe. Huge quantities of smoke were released as the heat and smoke spread through the building. The building has over 200 residents and at least 10 storeys.
Sprinklered apartment buildings have never lost so many people in a fire. In fact it is rare that even one person dies. Belgium does not require sprinklers in any residential buildings, nor is there a requirement in high-rise buildings. Sadly, these deaths were almost certainly preventable had the building been protected with sprinklers. While it was not a new building, it is not difficult to retrofit sprinklers in existing apartment buildings and this has been done in many hundreds of apartment buildings in the UK.