Deflagration at Wismar Pellets: Fire brigade on a large-scale operation for safety!

Deflagration at Wismar Pellets: Fire brigade on a large-scale operation for safety!

On Monday morning, June 17, 2025, the city of Wismar was woken up by a loud bang that could be heard from the factory of the pellet manufacturer “Wismar Pellets”. In the event of a deflagration in the system, quick action was required, which brought the Wismar professional fire brigade and the Altstadt volunteer fire brigade into action. Fortunately, there were no injuries and there was no external damage to the plant, as Wismar.fm reports.

The fire brigade was quickly on site and used a turntable ladder to check the silos, filled with wood pellets, for possible damage. The safety measures were necessary to ensure that the silos did not pose any further risks. The fire brigade searched for embers until late morning in order to avoid a new flare-up and thus ensure the safety of the facility and the surrounding neighborhood.

Fire damage and safety measures

On Saturday, before this incident, the Wismar professional fire department had to extinguish a fire on the premises of German Pellets GmbH. The fire, which broke out around 3:20 p.m., was finally brought under control around 4:20 p.m. and extinguished at 6:00 p.m., as reported by snaktuell.de. A total of around 60 firefighters with 15 emergency vehicles were on duty.

Residents in the neighboring residential areas were asked to keep windows and doors closed as there was a risk to the air they breathed due to the significant smoke. The Wismar police headquarters had also closed access roads to the scene in order to give the emergency services unhindered access. The population was never in danger during the incident and there were no injuries.

The investigation into the fire was started by a criminal investigation service. There was a smoldering fire in the area of ​​the drying facilities, which spread into a storage silo and led to an open fire. The damage has not yet been quantified; an expert was called in to clarify the cause of the trademark.

The world of pellets

Wood pellets, which are made from waste products from wood processing, are very popular in Germany and are often used in pellet heating systems. There are over 500,000 of these heating systems in Germany and the production capacity is around 3.35 million tons annually, according to dein-heizsbauer.de.

Pellets are ultimately the result of a complex manufacturing process that includes several steps: from filtering to drying to final pressing. The quality of wood pellets is defined, among other things, by DIN EN 14961-2, which sets specific limit values ​​for quality classes A1 and A2. Serious manufacturers also offer certificates such as EN plus and DIN plus, which promise higher quality and check the entire manufacturing process.

Nevertheless, there are always discussions about the sustainability of pellet production. Critics warn that in many places wood from inadequately controlled sources is processed, which could damage forests. Nevertheless, the demand for wood pellets remains unbroken due to their energy efficiency and the possibility of obtaining them from waste materials - despite the currently emerging problems in the industry.