A roof structure on a building on Schulstrasse in the Neuhausen district caught fire on Monday. Volunteer fire departments and professional fire departments had to put out the flames with up to 150 emergency services, and the all-clear was given in the afternoon. Fire rescuers remained on site and operations continued into the early evening. A spokesman told the SZ that there was massive damage to the roof structure. The fire brigade could not provide any information on the height and cause of the fire. The police are investigating.
The smoke rising from the house was visible from afar in the early afternoon, and the area smelled strongly of smoke, an eyewitness said. According to the fire department, the building is currently being renovated and is surrounded by scaffolding. The residents of the five-story corner building were able to get to safety in time, as were the construction workers. Nobody was injured. Firefighters had asked residents to keep windows and doors closed. The warning has now been lifted.
The fire department was able to bring the fire under control after three hours, but then had to extinguish remaining embers in the building. The work was complex because parts of the roof and dormers had to be opened with special saws. New embers kept appearing, it says in a statement. In the evening, the emergency services were still busy removing fire-fighting water from the apartments.
Working outside in the heat apparently made the emergency services even more difficult: a firefighter who was working in the basket of the turntable ladder collapsed during the operation and was taken to a clinic. The 37-year-old is now doing well again, according to the fire department.