A fire alarm went off Friday evening around 10:40 p.m. in a restaurant on rue Ravenstein, Brussels firefighter spokesman Walter Derieuw said on Saturday morning. After carrying out a search, the emergency services found a burning electric car on level -3 of a street parking lot. The carcass of the vehicle must have been submerged in a container of water.
Customers had spontaneously evacuated the establishment following the triggering of the alarm. Firefighters first inspected the interior of the restaurant. They then figured out that the smoke that activated the detector was coming from an underground car park across the street. It was an electric car that caught fire. The cause of the fire remains to be determined. The car owner said she was not in charge. The vehicle completely burned down. The police in the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles area requested the services of a private repairman to bring the carcass to the surface, on the public road. It was immersed in a large container filled with water in order to perform long-term cooling of the battery.
The container, transported by truck, was then deposited on the site of the recovery company. There was no vehicle parked near the damaged car. Level -3 of the car park is out of use. In particular, there was damage to the cables and conduits housed in the walls. Walter Derieuw explains that the fire prevention service has been analyzing the problem of e-cars for two years and has compiled a file with various partners. Prevention notices have been sent to (future) underground car park operators. For example, it is advisable to park electric cars only on the first level below the surface. The opinions and analyzes are submitted to the hierarchical authorities, so that they can be consulted in the event that legislation is drawn up.
