Fire alarm in Niederpleis 150 people evacuated from high-rise building
NIEDERPLEIS · It was a large-scale fire brigade operation: An apartment on the ninth floor of a high-rise building in Sankt Augustin destroyed on Tuesday evening. 150 people had to be evacuated.
The fire brigades were called out on Tuesday evening around 9pm to a large operation in the Wacholderweg in Niederpleis. A total of 130 firefighters and volunteers from Sankt Augustin attended the scene where a fire had broken out on the ninth floor of an apartment building. A full alarm had been triggered and the flames were already visible hundreds of metres away.
According to Sascha Lienesch, press spokesperson for the Sankt Augustin volunteer fire brigade, a kitchen had caught fire at first, but shortly afterwards all the rooms in the apartment were on fire. The 67-year-old resident was able to escape on her own and was looked after by the rescue service. She had no injuries. According to the police, the fire was probably triggered because the 67-year-old had left a coffee pot on the hot stove.
Two fire brigade troops under respiratory protection went into the apartment with two C-pipes to fight the fire and were able to extinguish the fire quickly. At the same time, a C-tube was positioned over the turntable ladder to support fire fighting from the outside. All apartments on the upper floors (ninth floor to 18th floor) were inspected by the fire brigade and partly opened by force. The fire was under control by around 10pm and did not spread any further. Eight ambulances and three emergency doctors were on site.
Several floors evacuated: 150 people brought outside
In total, the residential building has 18 floors with more than one hundred apartments, meaning that the fire-fighting tasks were difficult at first. 150 people had to be brought outside from the floors around the fire. According to police, a total of seven people were injured. Three of them were taken to hospitals. Four more were treated on the spot as outpatients.
During the fire-fighting operation, the police blocked off all surrounding roads and asked motorists to avoid the area. Problems with onlookers did not arise, only one person had to be led out of the closed-off area by the officers after repeated requests had not been obeyed.
Employees of the municipal crisis team and the public order office opened the Kindergarten Wacholderweg and looked after the residents who had to leave their apartments. With a supply wagon the German Red Cross organized hot and cold drinks. It was gradually decided which apartments the evacuees were allowed to return to.
After smoke extraction measures on the fire floor and the floors above it, the residents of the upper floors were allowed to return to their apartments. According to the police, the ninth floor is currently uninhabitable. The affected residents were accommodated by relatives. The city has provided accommodation for some people.
For the duration of the operation, the Sankt Augustin fire station was occupied by firefighters from Troisdorf to ensure the general protection of the city.
(Original text: GA Bonn, Translation: Mareike Graepel)
