2023-12-25 21:19:48
The fire alarm at the Sportica sports center in Gravelines went off at 12:47 p.m. this Monday and firefighters immediately went to the site. A major emergency response system was deployed. According to the mayor of Gravelines Bertrand Ringot, the fire started due to a technical problem at the swimming pool. The 90 firefighters tried, in vain, to control the fire so that it did not destroy the BCM basketball hall.
“This is a very serious fire and everything will probably have to be rebuilt”, explained Bertrand Ringot, the mayor of Gravelines. The wind helped the fire spread and made it difficult for firefighters to control the fire. Likewise, the mainly wooden structure of the building accelerated the progression of the flames.
Shortly following 5 p.m. the fire was contained and brought under control but it was not extinguished. Firefighters must remain on site throughout the night from Monday to Tuesday. There were no casualties, apart from two slightly injured firefighters, the prefecture said.
But materially, the toll is very heavy, the swimming pool, the cafeteria and the basketball hall are destroyed. the tennis courts were also reached. “My whole life is going up in smoke” says Hervé Beddelem, executive director of BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, present at the club since 1984, “it’s dramatic, it’s a legendary room“.
The town of Gravelines evokes “a test because Gravelines and Sportica is a story that has lasted for 40 years“. The authorities want to be reassuring regarding the smoke emitted by the fire: they do not represent a danger for the population.
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