Black smoke over Fuhlen: major fire department operation!

Black smoke over Fuhlen: major fire department operation!

On Sunday evening, two alarming fires occurred in the area around Fuhlen and Segelhorst, which kept the fire department on its toes. At 8:34 p.m. black smoke suddenly rose near the church in Fuhlen. The fire departments from Fuhlen and Heßlingen were immediately alerted to investigate the matter. Operations manager Lars Tönsgöke quickly discovered that the flames were not visible in the rectory, but near Streekenweg. Additional forces were immediately called in with the keyword “wildfire”. The volunteer fire departments from Hessisch Oldendorf, Bensen, Fischbeck, Haddessen and Hemeringen as well as the district fire department's drone squadron came out to support. An ambulance from the DRK station in Hessisch Oldendorf was also on duty, but was not needed as no one was injured.

The fire brigade was able to quickly extinguish the fire with 4,000 liters of water, which was drawn from an emergency fire engine and a tank fire engine. During the investigation it turned out that a 56-year-old man had started a campfire in a meadow, which unfortunately spread to a tractor-trailer with garbage. The trailer burned down completely, leaving only the steel parts. The man was heavily intoxicated and was taken to the station to be locked in a sobering-up cell.

Second fire in Segelhorst

Shortly afterwards, a second fire caused a stir in a quarry in Segelhorst. A 20,000-volt transformer station caught fire here. The fire brigade first waited for a master electrician to switch off the power to the system before opening the doors and starting to extinguish the fire. A two-part fire attack using carbon dioxide gas and water was launched, while a high-performance fan was used to force toxic fire gases out of the building. A total of around 60 volunteers were alerted to this operation.

Fire department in focus

The most recent operations highlight the central role and challenges that the fire department faces. There are around 48,100 fire departments in Germany, with volunteer fire departments making up the largest proportion. They have over a million members and responded to around 229,000 fire and explosion missions in 2022. The number of violent incidents against firefighters is also increasing, with almost half of active members having been insulted or threatened in the last two years. This highlights the conditions under which these courageous volunteers have to operate. After all, 333 deaths from smoke, fire and flames were reported in 2022, which illustrates the importance of their work.

Today's events in Fuhlen and Segelhorst are reminders of how quickly a situation can change and how important prudent action is in such moments of crisis. For the safety of the community, it is essential to deal with fire responsibly and to always support the fire department in their courageous efforts.

For further details on the incidents and the role of the fire brigade in Germany, you can read the reports on dewezet.de, feuerwehrmagazin.de and statista.de read up.