The magic of Christmas is sometimes overtaken by the terrible reality. While the majority of French people were still at the table, enjoying the festivities, a fire broke out early Monday afternoon at the Sportica de Gravelines. The hall of the Gravelines basketball club (Elite) was ravaged by a “violent fire“, indicated the firefighters of the North, and “everything went up in smoke“, the club told AFP.
“Firefighters are now masters of the fire“, indicated around 5:15 p.m. the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of the North, emphasizing the “ongoing extinction of residual outbreaks“. Fire “started at the swimming pool level, then spread to the cafeteria and basketball hall premises“, indicated the Northern prefecture.
At 4:00 p.m., more than 60 firefighters were mobilized to put out the fire ravaging the 3,000-seat room, which started around 12:45 p.m., according to Sdis du Nord. The Northern Prefecture reported “two lightly injured firefighters“.
A “technical problem” at the origin of the fire
Not initially impacted by the fire, the basketball hall was the priority for the numerous fire brigade teams who came to slow the progression of the flames. But they could not prevent them from setting the enclosure ablaze. A shock obviously for the city and for the northern team, which was to host Paris Basket at Sportica, on Thursday December 28, on behalf of Betclic Elite. “The match will not take place“, the president of Gravelines told AFP Monday evening.