The major fire that occurred on Sunday morning in Billstraße in the Rothenburgsort district is still being fought by the Hamburg fire brigade as of Tuesday morning, according to a prefaced statement given by the brigade. The fire broke out in several warehouses and has not yet been completely extinguished, with a container still burning and causing plumes of smoke. While 30 firefighters are currently working to put out the flames, there were initially up to 220 emergency services at the site during the firefighting process. The cause of the fire and property damage remain unclear. Despite no one getting hurt, the police union (GdP) has called for stricter controls in the commercial area. Rail traffic was also affected for hours due to the fire, with tracks between Hamburg and Büchen being temporarily closed.
Status: 04/11/2023 08:00 a.m
Because of the major fire that broke out on Sunday morning in Billstraße in the Rothenburgsort district, the Hamburg fire brigade is still on Tuesday morning. Several warehouses had caught fire.
The fire on the premises of a car dealership has not yet been completely extinguished. The fire is still being fought with a fire engine, the fire brigade said on Tuesday morning. A container is still burning and there are still some embers and plumes of smoke. Around 30 firefighters are on duty.
Large-scale operation with high material costs
At the top there were up to 220 emergency services on site. Six fire engines from the professional fire brigade, several volunteer fire brigades, the Technical Relief Agency and the police took part in the firefighting on Sunday. Turntable ladders were also used to extinguish the fire. Fire department spokesman Jan Ole Unger spoke of an inferno. Numerous pieces of equipment now have to be replaced at the fire brigade. “We have used many hundreds of respirators, several hundred breathing air bottles and breathing apparatus. Everything has to be cleaned and disinfected,” said Unger NDR 90.3. In addition, many kilometers of hoses have been laid here, just from the fireboat to the scene. Unger estimated that it would probably take about ten kilometers of hoses.
Debris concealed the source of the fire
Hardly anything is left of the approximately 17,000 square meter warehouse complex, most of the buildings have collapsed. Heavy equipment had to be used because the rubble had covered large sources of fire. The fire brigade and technical relief organization used excavators to clear large amounts of rubble to expose the source of the fire – only then could it be extinguished.
Cause of fire and property damage still unclear
An aerial photograph shows the extent of the blaze.
How the fire started is still unclear. The fire brigade was called to Billstrasse around 4:40 a.m. on Sunday. First, several cars and washing machines had burned there. Then the fire could spread quickly, apparently because there were problems with the water supply and the wind was unfavorable. Within a very short time, several warehouses were fully engulfed in fire. There were always detonations. There was a huge column of smoke above the site of the fire, clouds of smoke and ash were blown towards the city centre. The firefighters wore respirators because of the heavy smoke. Nobody got hurt. There is still no information on property damage.
GdP calls for more controls in the area
The police union (GdP) is now demanding stricter controls. In the commercial area, many companies would store tons of scrap in a very small space, according to GdP state chairman Lars Osburg. “It’s the second devastating major fire we’ve had there in 18 months. We always have the problem that these fires get out of control very quickly,” says Osburg. On Billstrasse, old refrigerators would be stacked four or five high, all in a very small space. “We have serious doubts as to whether the rule of law really works there and whether significantly more controls would not have to take place there to prevent precisely such fires,” added the GdP country head.
Official warning has been lifted
An official warning from the interior authorities was only lifted on Monday afternoon. The authorities had previously maintained them because of heavy smoke and the resulting odor nuisance. The affected area should be avoided.
On Sunday morning, the fire and the smoke development were initially classified as “extreme danger” in an official warning. The population could be affected “by smoke gases and chemical components in the air we breathe,” it said. The warning was updated on Sunday afternoon and was only classified as “hazard information”. According to the information, no increased pollutant readings were found in the city area. The interior authority sent the warning messages via the warning apps KATWARN and NINA. The cell broadcast warning system was also triggered.
Effects on rail traffic
The Brandststätte is located near the Rothenburgsort S-Bahn station.
Because of the fire, rail traffic was also affected for hours. The tracks between Hamburg and Büchen had to be closed on Sunday morning due to the fire. Trains between Hamburg and Berlin were diverted and delayed by up to 90 minutes. Trains between Hamburg and Rostock were cancelled. Train services did not start again until Sunday afternoon, but there were still subsequent delays.
The Hamburg S-Bahn had closed the route between Berliner Tor and Billwerder-Moorfleet for several hours due to the fire brigade. The road closure was lifted on Sunday afternoon. From early Monday morning, S-Bahn trains were able to stop at Rothenburgsort again.
Further information
In conclusion, the major fire that broke out in Billstraße in the Rothenburgsort district of Hamburg has caused significant material damage and a large-scale firefighting operation that lasted for days. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but police unions are calling for stricter controls on the storage of flammable materials in commercial areas. Despite the efforts of the Hamburg fire brigade and other emergency services, most of the warehouse complex has been destroyed. The fire also impacted rail traffic for hours, but services have since resumed. As the fire is brought under control, the community will begin to recover and rebuild after this devastating incident.