A fire damaged around 100 of the 160 solar panels on the roof of Don Bosco school in Halle, Belgium. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, and no injuries were reported.
Firefighters in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, extinguished a roof fire at Don Bosco school in Halle.
“The fire was quickly controlled and extinguished,” Brandweerzone Vlaams-Brabant West said in a Facebook statement. “There were no students in the building. No one was hurt.”
Local media outlet HLN reported that the roof had about 160 solar panels, with around 100 destroyed in the fire. The blaze also produced a large column of black smoke, reportedly caused by burning roofing materials underneath.
“It is not the PV panels that create all that smoke,” PV fire safety expert Grunde Jomas told pv magazine. “We always recommend that the entire system, including the roof materials, is tested before it is placed on a roof, whether it is a renovation project or a new construction.”
Belgian TV channel VRT reported that Halle Mayor Eva Demesmaeker said the damage still needs assessment, but the flames did not reach the buildings.
“We assume that a technical defect in one of the solar panels caused the fire,” said the head of Brandweerzone Vlaams-Brabant West, Wouter Jeanfils, according to VRT.