Nofalls - Two missions for Hamburg's fire department: rescuers injured
An apartment fire and a fire in an empty hotel presented the Hamburg fire department with major challenges at the weekend. Two firefighters were injured during the firefighting operation in a burning and heavily smoking apartment in the Winterhude district on Saturday morning. During the operation, their escape route was blocked, explained a fire department spokesperson. Both men, aged 36 and 55, were wearing heavy breathing protection. The younger man suffered smoke inhalation and second-degree burns. It is still unclear what started the fire. No one was injured in the fire in the hotel building in Hamburg-Hausbruch.
In Winterhude, the fire-fighting team had entered the apartment because two people were thought to be inside. In fact, no one was inside. During the rescue operation in very high heat and opaque smoke, they were looked after by comrades via radio as standard. When communication was lost, the respiratory protection monitoring system recognized the emergency. A second team quickly found and rescued the missing persons, they said.
"We know that the visibility conditions were extremely difficult for fighting the fire from the inside," said the incident commander. There was an unusually high fire load in the apartment. The rooms were heavily cluttered. An emergency doctor had seen a total of 15 people, including three members of the volunteer fire department. Apart from the two members of the professional fire department, nobody was injured. According to the fire department on Sunday, the 36-year-old had recovered under the circumstances but was still in hospital. The 55-year-old was able to leave the hospital again.
A resident across the street from the apartment had reported to the fire department that the balcony was on fire and the flames were threatening to spread to the apartment above. The firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading. However, the extinguishing work dragged on for several hours because the firefighters had to remove the burning items from the apartment piece by piece via the balcony and extinguish them. At times, 124 firefighters were deployed, the spokesman said. The State Office of Criminal Investigation took over the investigation into the cause of the fire.
A neighbor reported that he had only grabbed a bag with the most important documents and ran out of his apartment with his wife. "I had already mentally said goodbye to the apartment because it was pretty intense," he said, referring to the fire in the neighboring apartment. One father described how he saw the fire, smelled the smoke and then woke his children and wife. "The only thing I thought was that I wanted to get the children to safety," he said.
The deputy chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, Richard Seelmaecker, explained: "This sad accident proves that we need to do more when it comes to Messi apartments." Especially in the case of the many old buildings in Hamburg, fires quickly pose an acute danger to the lives of all residents. Seelmaecker called on the red-green Senate to inspect known Messi apartments and have them cleared.
Late on Saturday evening, the fire department was once again called out to a major operation in the Harburg mountains. The extinguishing work was difficult due to the location of the hotel building, as the incident commander told a dpa reporter. Around 100 firefighters were on site. No one was injured, according to the emergency services on Sunday. Residents were temporarily asked to keep windows and doors closed and to turn off ventilation systems. The police were unable to provide any information on the cause of the fire or the amount of damage on Sunday.
Message from the fire department Message from the CDU parliamentary group
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- Despite the weekend's challenges with an apartment fire and a hotel fire, the Hamburg fire department successfully contained a potentially spreading fire in the Winterhude district on Saturday morning.
- A woman and her husband living in an apartment adjacent to the burning one quickly evacuated, grabbing essential documents before leaving.
- Despite the difficulties in battling the apartment fire due to its intensity and the fire department's high workload, no additional injuries were reported during the weekend's emergencies.
- The Fire Department in Hamburg received a report of a balcony fire and impending apartment spread in Winterhude, resulting in hours of painstakingly removing burning items to prevent further damage.
- In response to the apartment fire incident, the CDU parliamentary group urged the red-green Senate to inspect and clear Messi apartments, highlighting the potential dangers posed by such buildings in Hamburg's old structures.
Source: www.stern.de
