Braunschweig. 12 cars were damaged by the fire on Theodor-Heuss-Straße. An electric car presented the fire department with special challenges.
In a two-story public insurance parking deck on Theodor-Heuss-Strasse in Braunschweig, two cars on the lower floor caught fire around 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. According to the Braunschweig fire department, numerous emergency calls alerted the emergency services to the heavy smoke development on the public insurance site.
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On site, the emergency services discovered significant smoke and flames coming from the lower level of the parking deck. Several attack teams from the two alerted fire brigades tried to fight the flames. Due to the poor accessibility of burning cars, extinguishing the fire was initially difficult, according to the fire department. The leaking fuel from the vehicles repeatedly led to backfires. The fire department was finally able to extinguish the fire with the help of foam. According to the fire department, one person was examined by the emergency services as a precaution after they reported that they had inhaled smoke. However, further treatment was not necessary.
Several forces from the Braunschweig professional fire department and the volunteer fire department were on duty. © FMN | Jörg Koglin
After fire in Braunschweig parking deck: E-car poses a special challenge for the fire brigade
A vehicle with a combustion engine was completely destroyed by the fire, and an electric car was also massively affected by the spread of the fire. Another ten vehicles were damaged by the smoke and heat. Removing the damaged electric car was particularly challenging because it had to be monitored to ensure safety, according to the fire department. Accordingly, the emergency services commissioned a Braunschweig company to provide a special container. Together with the local fire department in the city center, the remaining vehicles were finally recovered.
In its press release, the Braunschweig fire department particularly praises the behavior of the insurance company’s employees. “The emergency services were briefed by those responsible at the company and measures had already been initiated through internal company regulations to evacuate the large building, which was also partially affected by the smoke, for safety reasons.” After checking the rooms, the employees were able to re-enter the building after about an hour.
The operation lasted four and a half hours, until around 7 p.m. More than 50 members of the professional fire brigade, the city center fire brigade and the Johanniter fire brigade were on site. The exact amount of damage and the cause of the fire are not yet known.
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