what we know about the fire which ravaged the Sportica sports center, home of the city’s basketball club

Almost all of this emblematic municipal equipment went up in smoke in just a few hours on Monday afternoon. The fire started “at the swimming pool, then spread”, according to the Northern prefecture.

Thousands of square meters gone up in smoke. At the start of the afternoon, Monday December 25, a major fire ravaged the Sportica sports center in Gravelines (North), the hall of the city’s basketball club, BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, which plays in the first division. Although the flames only caused minor injuries to two firefighters, the material damage was very significant. “As everything burned, everything will have to be rebuilt”, reacted on franceinfo Hervé Beddeleem, executive director of the club. Here’s what we know about this fire.

Very significant material damage

The fire started just before 1 p.m. Monday. If the flames made “two minor injuries among the firefighters” according to the Northern prefecture in a press release published on, the material damage is considerable, as shown in this video posted on X by Romuald Coustre, a club executive. The BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque basketball hall, the cafeteria, the swimming pool and a new multi-sports hall, which was to open in the spring, were destroyed, according to the Voice of the North.

The wind helped the fire spread and made it difficult for the 90 firefighters involved to control the fire. The structure of the building, mainly made of wood, also accelerated the progression of the flames, notes France Bleu Nord. The hall, inaugurated in 1986, was destroyed in “in the space of half an hour”testified to the Parisian Jean-Christophe Prat, the coach of BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, who went to the scene.

The origin of the fire still unknown

Fire “started at the swimming pool level, then spread to the cafeteria and basketball room”, reported the Northern prefecture, without further details on the origin of the disaster. The mayor of Gravelines, for his part, mentioned the possibility of a “Technical problem”. According to The voice of the North, the swimming pool boiler was undergoing maintenance and the pool had just been drained. But for now, the exact causes of the fire remain unknown. An investigation has been opened, specifies the regional daily.

Residents in shock

Significant plumes of smoke were visible Monday afternoon and toxicological analyzes were still in progress, according to the prefecture. Gravelines town hall called on nearby residents to keep their windows closed. Which did not prevent some from going there on Monday afternoon. “I feel our whole childhood going up in smoke”lamented a resident at the microphone of BFM Grand Lille. “I think of all the people who worked there, and who will no longer have a job on Christmas Day.” “It’s terrible, Sportica, it’s part of our life”reacts another Gravelin resident to There Voice of the North.

The fire also sparked reactions within the government. “Solidarity in this ordeal with the club, its 80 employees, its volunteers, its teams and the city of Gravelines who is so invested alongside them”wrote the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, on. “The urban community will stand alongside the city of Gravelines to find effective solutions together in the short and medium term”for his part assured, on his Facebook page, the Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriete, who chairs the urban community of Dunkirk, to which Gravelines belongs.

The basketball club looking for a new hall

Due to the damage, the meeting scheduled for Thursday between BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque and Paris was postponed. But “We will have to find a solution.” for the rest of the season, in the French championship and in the European Cup, warned the club’s president, Christian Devos. “IIt will be some time before we find Sportica or even a room ready for us receive”he estimated on Monday.

“I“We need to be able to train in a room with parquet floors and there aren’t those on every street corner.”, Hervé Beddeleem also worried on Monday. Handball and basketball clubs in the surrounding area have offered to lend their premises while waiting to find a lasting solution. Tuesday, Patrice Vergriete, the president of the urban community of Dunkirk, announced that the Dewerdt room, stronghold of the city’s handball club, would be equipped “to welcome basketball”. An arrangement that will last “the necessary time”assured the Minister of Housing, also former mayor of Dunkirk.

As for the training, it could take place in the neighboring town of Loon-Plage, where a Nationale 1 club plays, reports France 3 Hauts-de-France. “We’ve already trained with them, we get along well,” assures Hervé Beddeleem. However, “We need a long-term solution”he adds, estimating the time for reconstruction at “two or three years“. In the immediate future, the club will also turn to its equipment supplier: “He needs to find us some jerseys and shorts for the team, some equipment,” lists Hervé Beddeleem on franceinfo. “Even the players’ sneakers burned”he told the Parisian. Experts must also go to the site within a few days to measure the extent of the damage.

An “important” meeting to decide on the future of the club

This fire does not only raise questions of logistics. Seventeenth and penultimate in the French championship, BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque is in difficulty on a sporting level. Her president, Christian Devos, affirms that a “important meeting” will be held on Tuesday “to follow through on the direction of the club’s activities and Sportica’s activities”with the mayor of Gravelines, Bertrand Ringot, and the team’s sports management. “It will be hard to recover from such a tragedy, but we will get back up”convinces the executive director of the club, Hervé Beddeleem.