D: Fire in a 20 x 25 m open straw hall in Gangelt → Construction yard relay installed 2nd operational phase

GANGELT (GERMANY): The Gangelt fire department was alerted to a fire operation in Breberen at 5:23 a.m. on October 17, 2024. On the way there, a bright glow of fire was visible over the property on Bredburplatz. When the fire brigade arrived, an open straw hall measuring around 20 x 25 meters was fully ablaze on an agricultural property.

Since there are additional warehouses, a riding hall, horse shelters and residential buildings in the immediate vicinity, the initial measures taken by the operations management focused on protecting the surrounding buildings. At the same time, other units of the Gangelt fire department were alerted to the scene. Together we managed to prevent the fire from spreading, but the affected straw hall could no longer be saved.

During the first attempts to extinguish the fire, one person was slightly injured and was treated by the emergency services. However, it was not necessary to be transported to a clinic by the emergency services. It was already becoming apparent that the deployment would last longer. For this reason, the emergency services were sufficiently supplied with rolls and drinks. After the acute danger was averted, the majority of the emergency services were replaced in the morning by the Gangelt fire department’s construction yard squadron.

Construction yard squadron Gangelt

The Gangelt fire department is a purely voluntary fire department and most of the emergency services started regular duty on the job after their deployment. The construction yard squadron consists of emergency services from the Gangelt fire department who are employed full-time at the construction yard in the municipality of Gangelt. By using the construction yard staff, the burden on other employers could be kept to a minimum. After the fire had lost significant energy, the Technical Relief Agency was called in to provide support around midday. A THW driver, wearing heavy respiratory protection, cleared the straw from the hall with a THW Eschweiler wheel loader.

After around 13 hours of operation, the fire material was moved out of the hall around 6:30 p.m. and spread out in a nearby field. The remaining fire pockets were then covered with foam so that the operation could be ended around 6:40 p.m.

A total of around 60 emergency services from the fire department, the THW, the police and the rescue service were on duty under the direction of community fire inspector Günter Paulzen.