A brand new fire station in Germany that was destroyed in a fire that caused damage of millions of euros and destroyed equipment, did not have a fire alarm system, local media reported, quoted by DPA and BTA.
The fire broke out early Wednesday morning at the Stathalendorf fire station in the state of Hesse and destroyed, among other things, the equipment shed and nearly a dozen emergency vehicles. According to initial estimates, the damage is worth between 20 million and 24 million euros. There were no casualties.
Local officials told DPA that a fire alarm system was not installed in the building as experts deemed it unnecessary – much to the astonishment of many observers now that the object has burned.
The fire broke out on a fire department emergency vehicle, which contained lithium-ion batteries and an external electrical connection.
The facility went into operation less than a year ago, local media reported.
„I believe that what happened will make many people think and act,”, Norbert Fischer, head of the Association of the State Fire Service in the state of Hesse, told DPA.
Precisely because there is a lot of technology in fire stations and the batteries are rechargeable, it makes sense to equip them with fire alarm systems, Fischer said, noting that it is unclear whether such a system could have prevented the worst in Stathalendorf. Because”this fire spread at a furious speed”.