Major fire in NRW: In Essen, an entire residential complex caught fire. 128 people lose their homes. A police robot is sent in search of clues.
Update from February 22, 10:33 a.m.: “He’s being used,” confirmed a police spokesman. What is meant is the four-legged police robot. Since yesterday there have been considerations about sending the walking robot, which was only presented a few weeks ago, to the residential complex in Essen, which is in danger of collapsing. It’s fixed now. The operation is scheduled to start in the late morning.
Update from February 22, 8:25 a.m.: As the German press agency reported, the cause of the fire is still unknown. A police spokeswoman informed that the fire site was not yet accessible. The residential complex could collapse. Whether the police robot announced yesterday will be used and can explore the scene of the fire will be checked during the day.
During the night, the fire brigade checked the residential complex several times with a thermal imaging camera. Again and again embers were discovered there, which could be extinguished directly by the emergency services. The fire has been officially extinguished since around 7 a.m. The site now belongs to the criminal police.
Update from February 22, 7:10 a.m.: It was one of the biggest fires in Essen in decades. A day later, the clean-up work begins. The fire brigade and police are trying to get an overview of the damage. The ruins of the residential complex are in danger of collapsing, the investigators could not enter them yesterday.
Update from February 21, 7:06 p.m.: Almost 40 apartments in the middle of Essen were destroyed, almost 130 people lost their homes and their belongings. The residential complex, which is only six years old, is in danger of collapsing. After the extinguishing and clean-up work on Monday night, the question of the cause of the devastating fire came to the fore. Police experts were already on site, but there is no official information yet. According to information from WAZ the fire brigade suspects that the thermal insulation composite facade made of styrofoam played a major role in the spread of the fire – in addition to storm Antonia, which acted like bellows. According to initial findings, the fire broke out on a balcony.
| city | Essen |
| surface | 210,3 km² |
| resident | 582.415 |
Essen/NRW: major fire in a residential complex – search for the cause
Update from February 21, 4:52 p.m.: The police want loud dpa send a new robotic dog to the burned-out and collapsing block of flats in Essen. According to the State Office for Central Police Services, the four-legged robot should explore the scene of the fire with a camera – but probably on Tuesday and not on Monday. The operation was postponed late Monday afternoon. Due to the risk of collapse, emergency services are not yet allowed to enter large parts of the ruins.
The 35-kilo walking robot was presented just a few weeks ago at an appointment with Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in Duisburg. At that time it was explained that the four-legged robot with cameras and sensors could explore disaster sites, for example. The robot – nicknamed “Herbie” – was to be prepared in Duisburg on Monday and then brought to Essen.
Flame inferno in NRW: residential complex in Essen is in danger of collapse
Update from February 21, 4:06 p.m.: The residential complex is in danger of collapsing after the fire. The fire brigade is currently not able to enter two thirds of the building for safety reasons, said a spokesman for the fire brigade German press agency. It is therefore difficult to assess when the extinguishing work will finally be completed. “This can flare up again and again inside and last for days,” said the spokesman. The fire brigade brought the fire under control in the morning, but there are always fire nests.
The fire brigade cannot yet make any statement about the extent of the damage and the cause of the fire – the fire experts have not yet been able to enter the building either.
Update from February 21, 2:15 p.m.: The fire department found the source of the fire. According to information from the fire department, the fire spread from a balcony of the residential complex. Storm depression Antonia then ensured that the fire spread rapidly across the facade and balconies that were exposed to the wind. The building with a façade length of around 65 meters and four and a half floors is equipped with a thermal insulation composite façade.
Flame inferno in NRW: residential complex is on fire – fire brigade finds the source of the fire
128 people lost their homes in the blaze. Many of those affected were able to organize a temporary place to stay on Monday. The city of Essen announced that 27 people had to be accommodated for a longer period of time. 35 apartments were completely burned out in the fire, others were damaged by smoke and extinguishing water.
The housing company Vivawest, as the owner of the house, had offered the residents rooms in nearby hotels at short notice. A city spokeswoman said there were also citizens who offered those affected guest rooms. The city provides medicines, hygiene items and clothing for current needs, the statement said. A donation account has also been set up for those affected.
Update from February 21, 10:45 am: According to the fire brigade, the fire in the residential complex has still not been completely extinguished. Inside the building there are individual fire nests that flare up again and again, said a spokesman for the fire brigade German press agency. However, the spread of the fire to surrounding buildings can now be ruled out.
The building complex in the west quarter is only ten years old. Normally there are fire barriers in modern buildings that prevent such a massive spread of fire, the fire department spokesman explained. “The massive spread of fire took all emergency services by surprise.” Why it could have happened in this case has to be investigated. The police want to start an investigation as soon as possible.
39 apartments are affected by the major fire. This was announced by Vivawest Wohnen GmbH. “We are deeply affected and wish the injured tenants a speedy recovery,” said Uwe Eichner, CEO. He promised support for the around 100 tenants of the burned-down apartments.
Update from February 21, 9:06 a.m.: The fire brigade in Essen has never experienced such a fire: A huge residential complex with around 100 residents suddenly caught fire early Monday morning. The gusts of wind from Storm Antonia also fueled the fire. Almost a miracle: initially only three injuries were reported. They were taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. About 100 people were brought to safety from the complex, said a fire department spokesman. That roughly corresponds to the number of people living there. You haven’t been able to check that exactly yet, “but that’s about right”.
NRW: Residential complex is on fire – residents describe dramatic rescue operation
As a direct resident, 35-year-old Lennart Diedrich was one of the first eyewitnesses to the fire. “It was around two o’clock when I wanted to go to bed and so I turned off the last lights and outside ‘Fire! Fire!” was shouted,” reports Diedrich der German press agency. “And then I looked out the window and there was smoke coming out where the blinds were half mast. So I said, “Okay, that’s more serious.”
He tried to call the fire department, got dressed and ran outside. “Then flames came blazing up from all the other side of the building. It was like an inferno. The wind whipped up the flames – sparks.” Shortly thereafter, the first fire engine arrived. The firefighters ran into the house and then shouted: “We need help!” Diedrich followed the call together with two other people. “Then the three of us ran up the stairwell there. And there was a wheelchair user who of course couldn’t use the elevator anymore and couldn’t get down. So the three of us carried it down. Two in the back, I grabbed the front, carried him down. Then the police came and everything was evacuated.”
Then it went incredibly fast. “Within 20 minutes the whole house was completely on fire. You have the feeling that you are in a fire inferno here.” As of Monday morning, flames were still erupting from the burned-out L-shaped building complex.
Major fire in NRW: residential complex is ablaze with flames
[Erstmeldung] Essen (NRW) – For reasons that have not yet been explained, an L-shaped residential complex in the Westviertel in Essen caught fire early Monday morning. One by one the buildings went up in flames. The houses were evacuated and the residents housed in a nearby university lecture hall. the WAZ reported three injuries. It is not yet known whether all residents could really be rescued from the house.
“All available professional fire brigades were alerted,” said a spokesman for the fire brigade. As the WDR reports, the fire brigade speaks of an “unprecedented fire”. 50 residential units on four floors and around 100 people are affected. through the strong gusts of wind from storm depression Antonia The flames spread quickly, according to the fire department WAZ.
As the fire brigade announced on Twitter, the extinguishing work will cause disruptions in rush-hour traffic. Segerothstrasse and Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse are completely closed. According to the information, a warning was also sent via a warning app. The western quarter borders Essen’s city center directly to the west.
Only recently did the WAZ reported a series of fires in the city. There were three fires within a week in the Eltingviertel north of the city center.