A fire caused by an electric emergency vehicle destroyed a brand-new fire station in Germany and caused millions of euros in damage.

“Initial estimates put the damage at between €20 million and €24 million,” Euro News reports.

The fire occurred Wednesday, October 16th, at the Stadtallendorf fire station in Hesse.

The blaze devastated the equipment hall and destroyed nearly a dozen emergency vehicles.

Euro News reports:

Local officials told the German news agency dpa that no fire alarm system was installed in the building because experts had considered it not necessary — much to the astonishment of many observers now that the station has burned down.

The fire broke out on an emergency vehicle belonging to the fire department, which contained lithium-ion batteries and an external power connection.

The station opened less than a year ago, local media reported.

“It is a nightmare for a firefighter. No one wants to have to extinguish his own fire station,” district fire inspector Lars Schäfer told German media, according to The Guardian.

Local media reportedly described the fire station as “modern, innovative and state-of-the-art” when it opened.

From The Guardian:

A state-of-the-art fire station in western Germany that was completed last year at a cost of tens of millions of euros has burned to the ground because it had not been equipped with a fire alarm.

The town of Stadtallendorf had proudly unveiled the new structure less than a year ago, but early on Wednesday emergency services were alerted to a fire that had started in a vehicle before quickly spreading to the whole building.

About 170 firefighters battled the blaze, including members of the local volunteer fire brigade, as 10-metre flames leapt from the station’s roof.

No one was injured although 10 fire engines were destroyed. But relief at the lack of casualties quickly gave way to incredulity that the building had no fire alarm – and then growing outrage and bafflement over the revelation that this was not a legal requirement.

Firefighters who rushed to the scene became emotional at the realisation that their own station had burned to the ground.

 

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