Ludwigshafen (ots)
(FB) On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the Ludwigshafen fire brigade was alerted at 11:06 a.m. to a hazardous material leak into Oppauer Straße in the Edigheim district.
When the emergency services arrived, the fire brigade was informed that there was a product reaction in a hall on a factory site. The product reaction resulted in a vessel bursting with hydrochloric acid escaping inside a hall.
3 employees were injured and, after being examined by the emergency doctor, were transported to the surrounding hospitals as a precaution. In addition, 7 other employees were introduced to the “head emergency doctor” as a precaution.
During the entire operation, the site and the surrounding residential area were monitored with a measuring vehicle from the Ludwigshafen fire brigade and a measuring vehicle from the Frankenthal fire brigade. No increased values could be determined outside the company premises.
As a precaution, the directly adjacent companies and residents were informed about the operational situation. There was never any danger to them.
The product was transferred to special containers by the BASF SE plant fire brigade and disposed of by a specialist company. The responsible authorities were notified and were on site. The police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
The Ludwigshafen fire brigade was deployed with 14 vehicles and 30 emergency services, the rescue service, the emergency doctor in charge, the organizational head of the rescue service, the fire brigade’s medical stand-by and the Ludwigshafen civil protection supply unit and the police. The plant fire brigade of BASF SE with 4 vehicles and 5 emergency services, as well as representatives of the environmental authority and the inspection authority were also on site.
During the ongoing use of hazardous substances, the Ludwigshafen fire brigade, with the support of the volunteer fire brigade unit Oppau, Maudach and Ruchheim, responded to a fire at an altar in the pilgrimage church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Here, through the courageous intervention of the pastor with attempts to extinguish, greater damage was prevented. The pastor had to be taken to a hospital on suspicion of smoke inhalation.
Large parts of the altar in the chapel burned. The entire body of the church was engulfed in smoke. The intensity of the fire was so severe that a number of attachments were removed, several embers extinguished and larger backups carried out. Further openings in the roof membrane were necessary.
With the support of church representatives, valuable and historical objects and statues were secured and stowed away in other buildings. A fire safety guard was set up on site to continue to monitor the historic building.
The police have opened an investigation into the cause of fire.
The Ludwigshafen fire brigade with 11 vehicles and 28 emergency services, the volunteer fire brigades Ludwigshafen-Ruchheim, Ludwigshafen-Oppau, Ludwigshafen-Maudach, the rescue service, the first-aid fire brigade and the Ludwigshafen civil protection supply unit and the police were deployed.
