A block of flats in Essen burns down on Monday night – also due to storm “Antonia”. Now there are first assumptions about the cause of the fire.
Update from Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022, 9:53 a.m .: After the major fire in downtown Essen with three injured and 35 destroyed apartments, the question of the cause of the fire is great. What exactly led to the fire is still unclear at this time. A fire brigade spokesman told Focus, however, about the first findings.
Accordingly, the fire could have broken out on a balcony of the huge residential complex. This is also reported by Bild.de. Not only the strong wind, but also the thermal composite facade made of Styrofoam could have played a role in the rapid spread of the fire. The exact cause of the fire and whether certain building materials had an influence must first be investigated. Because the building is not yet accessible due to the risk of collapse, it will be checked during the day whether a new four-legged police robot with a camera should explore the scene of the fire.
Fire in Essen: Expert has not seen anything comparable in residential buildings
An expert also spoke to Der Spiegel. “I have never experienced anything comparable in residential buildings,” said Dirk Aschenbrenner in an interview with the news portal. “Actually, there are regulations in German building law that are intended to ensure that fires do not spread throughout the entire building,” said the President of the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (VFDB) and Director of the Dortmund Fire Department.
According to the statements and pictures he has seen so far, he thinks it is possible that flammable building materials were used or that building regulations were disregarded. Whether that was the case must now be analyzed very carefully.
Major fire in Essen: cause of fire still unclear – police robots in action
+++ 6.37 p.m .: The day after the major fire in downtown Essen with three injured and 35 destroyed apartments, the fire brigade and police are trying to get an overview of the damage on Tuesday (February 22nd, 2022). The ruins of the residential complex are in danger of collapsing, investigators could not enter them on the day of the fire until the evening.
128 people had lost their homes and often all their property as a result of the fire that broke out on Monday morning, they had to move to acquaintances or hotels. The cause of the fire has not yet been fully clarified.
According to the State Office for Central Police Services, a new four-legged police robot with a camera may also be used to investigate the scene of the fire. The 35-kilo walking robot was presented just a few weeks ago at a meeting with NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in Duisburg. At that time it was explained that he could use cameras and sensors to explore disaster sites, for example.
Big fire in Essen: “Within 20 minutes the whole house was completely on fire”
+++ 2.36 p.m .: According to statisticians, after a major fire in a residential complex in downtown Essen, “large parts of the apartment block” are in danger of collapsing. It was therefore initially unclear whether and when the building could be entered again. The apartments would be checked further.
At least three people were injured in the fire. According to initial findings, a fire broke out on a balcony, as the Essen fire brigade announced. Fanned by the storm “Antonia”, the fire spread from there “rapidly” across the wind-blown façade and balconies.
“Within 20 minutes the whole house was completely on fire,” said a resident of the apartment complex after the fire. “You have the feeling that you are in a fire inferno here.” According to the fire brigade, the heat even caused damage to buildings 15 meters away: the heat radiation caused roller shutters to melt and window panes to burst.
Residential complex major fire in Essen “similar to inferno” – fire brigade gives details
+++ 1:51 p.m .: The fire in a residential complex in Essen has spread from a balcony. As the fire brigade announced on Monday, the storm “Antonia” that raged during the night obviously ensured that the fire then spread rapidly across the facade and balconies that were in the wind. The building with a façade length of around 65 meters and four and a half floors is equipped with a thermal insulation composite façade. Three people were injured in the fire, reports the German Press Agency (dpa).
A total of 128 people have lost their homes and many of them their belongings. 35 apartments were completely burned out in the fire, others were affected by massive smoke development or extinguishing water.
Major fire in the residential complex in Essen “liked an inferno” – the fire is still burning
Update from Monday, February 21st, 2022, 12:11 p.m .: The fire in a large residential building in Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia) was not yet extinguished on Monday morning (February 21st, 2022). This is reported by the German Press Agency with reference to the Essen fire brigade. There are still individual fire nests in the residential complex. However, there is no risk of the fire spreading to other nearby houses.
The building caught fire on Monday night (02/21/2022). “The massive spread of fire surprised all emergency services,” said a spokesman for the dpa fire brigade. According to a spokesman for the homeowner and housing company Vivawest, the building is a new building from 2015, equipped with modern fire protection doors, reports the dpa. There are a total of 112 apartments in the complex. 39 of them with around 100 tenants were affected by the fire. Vivawest promised them hotel rooms in nearby hotels at short notice at the company’s expense.
The police, like the fire brigade, have not yet found a cause for the major fire. However, the gusts of wind from storm “Antonia” fanned the fire further, as the dpa reports. Three people suffered smoke inhalation from the fire. According to Mayor Thomas Kufen (CDU), no one is missing. The approximately 180 residents of the residential complex in Essen and from surrounding buildings have been accommodated in a neighboring lecture hall for the time being.
“Fire! Fire!”: Residents describe dramatic apartment block fire in Essen
A 69-year-old resident of an attic apartment told the dpa that she was woken up early in the morning by a loud knock on the front door. She was only able to put on a coat and shoes. “I left my cell phone on the bedside table.” Her glasses also stayed there – and burned with her apartment.
One of the first eyewitnesses to the major fire was 35-year-old Lennart Diedrich. “It was around two o’clock when I wanted to go to bed and so I turned off the last lights and outside, ‘Fire! Fire!’ screamed,” explains Diedrich of the German Press Agency. “And then I looked out the window and there was smoke coming out where the blinds were half mast. So I said: ‘Ok, that’s more serious.'”
Residents of a large apartment block fire in Essen shocked: “It was like an inferno”
He tried to call the fire department, got dressed and ran outside. “Then flames came blazing up from all the other side of the building. It was like an inferno. The wind whipped up the flames – sparks,” the dpa quoted Diederich as saying. The first fire truck arrived a short time later. But even the firefighters would have called in the house: “We need help!”
Diedrich and two other people came to the aid of the fire brigade. “Then the three of us ran up the stairwell there. And there was a wheelchair user who of course couldn’t use the elevator anymore and couldn’t get down. So the three of us carried it down. Two in the back, I grabbed the front, carried him down. Then the police came and everything was evacuated.” After that, everything happened very quickly. “Within 20 minutes the whole house was completely on fire. You get the feeling it’s an inferno of fire you’re in here.”
Major fire in Essen: three people injured by fire in apartment block
First report from Monday, February 21st, 2022, 7:34 a.m.: Essen – In the western part of Essen there was a fire in an entire block of flats on Monday night. At around 2:15 a.m., the fire department received the alarm. “All available professional fire brigades were alerted,” said the spokesman for the fire brigade. However, the fire has not yet been brought under control.
The cause of the fire in the building complex with around 50 apartments in downtown Essen is so far unclear. The fire brigade evacuated the houses and brought the residents to safety. Around 100 people were housed in a nearby university lecture hall. According to the fire department, three people suffered from smoke inhalation and had to be hospitalized.
Essen: Building complex is on fire – fire brigade operation is ongoing
The fire brigade warned residents in the western part of Essen to close the windows and doors because of the smoke. Because of the extinguishing work, there are also disabilities in commuter traffic. The Essen fire brigade reported on Twitter that Segerothstrasse and Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse were completely closed. According to the information, a warning was also sent via a warning app. The western quarter is immediately adjacent to the Essen city center to the west.
The “WAZ” recently reported on a series of fires in the city. There were three fires within a week in the Elting district north of the city center.
Only recently there was a major fire in Hesse that destroyed a family business*. (Jan Trieselmann with dpa, Max Schäfer with dpa/afp) *hna.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubrics: © David Young/dpa
