Anyone who works for the fire department or police has a highly responsible job. But occasionally fire rescue workers and law enforcement officers also add a wink to their tasks – namely when unusual circumstances lead to unusual missions. A reason for joy for press offices, as they don’t have to report on murder, theft and strokes of fate, but can also sometimes report quite funny incidents.
As was the case with an elderly gentleman who visited the crypt under the blessing hall in the Westfriedhof in April – late in the evening, not to say too late. In any case, the door closed behind him and he found himself locked in a dead room, in complete darkness. Shouts didn’t help. Now the man took out his cell phone, found that he even had reception in the basement of the cemetery and dialed 112. The fire department arrived, and because no one could be reached at the cemetery administration, they opened the door with a screwdriver.
The crypt in Munich’s Westfriedhof.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The situation was somewhat more complicated for a woman in Neuperlach who was locked out of the balcony of her apartment in June – by her own four-year-old son. The fire brigade speculated jokingly that he wanted to take revenge for the fact that his mother always locked the apartment door so that he didn’t escape, and closed the balcony door with his mother outside. No matter how kindly he asked and pleaded, he would not be deterred from opening the door again. Finally, neighbors heard the mother’s cries for help and alerted the fire department. She drove the turntable ladder up to a tilted window, was able to easily get into the apartment and reunited mother and child.
At the beginning of December, the fire brigade had to deal with a different kind of family reunion in Mittersendling: There, a man got into the elevator with his one-year-old son early in the morning to go down. That worked well at first, but when the elevator reached the ground floor, it didn’t stop and release its occupants – it turned around and went back up. But he didn’t let the passengers get out at the top either, but instead drove back down without stopping. The wife, who was waiting in the stairwell with four other small children, called the fire department. They stopped the elevator using the emergency stop, brought the cabin manually to the next floor and freed father and son.
Friday the 13th – not necessarily a day of bad luck
Only very superstitious people believe that it is particularly bad luck if the 13th of a month falls on a Friday. However, the Munich fire department once listed what they had to sort out on October 13th – a Friday – although some things turned out to be a blessing in disguise: Shortly after 1 a.m. they were called to a 102-year-old woman, because her smoke alarm connected to a home emergency call service had sounded an alarm. However, there was no fire in the apartment, only the smoke alarm was broken.
In Berg am Laim, shortly before 9 a.m., three people were in a stuck elevator. The three were freed within a quarter of an hour. Around 11 a.m., a kindergarten child had bad luck when he climbed onto a climbing frame and fell from a height of about two meters. The child suffered a laceration on his head.
At about the same time, the mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy called 911. She was standing next to her car in a supermarket parking lot in Freiham, her car keys and child were safely stowed inside the vehicle – and no door opened. The fire department was able to open the car, free the child and give the key to the mother. And finally there was the child from a kindergarten in the Au who complained of severe pain in his neck. Actually not a case for 112 – but the three-year-old patient stated that the reason for the sudden sore throat was that he had swallowed a gemstone. The kindergarten’s urgent wish is that the emergency services should take a look at this.
Fire department and animal rescue in one
The fire brigade is particularly happy to report when they rescue animals. This year – without claiming to be exhaustive – several baby squirrels, a large number of newly hatched blackbirds, a mother duck and her clutch of eggs, cats, sheep, young foxes and a budgie were able to enjoy this experience.
The fire brigade even saved a dachshund from death by strangulation: the dog, although on a leash, got into an elevator in Pasing without his owner. As the elevator started going up, it got stuck because the rope got caught in the door. Luckily there were two passengers in the cabin who held the dachshund up so he didn’t suffocate. The fire department cut the rope from outside, opened the door and rescued the two people and the dog.
Three young squirrels lie in an animal trap box belonging to the Munich fire department, from which they were rescued in March 2023.
(Photo: Saurer/dpa)
But animals can also lead to funny and bizarre missions, as happened with a rooster that was supposed to be taken to a new place of work but escaped from captivity on Landsberger Strasse. Since he was able to run significantly faster than his pursuers and also flapped away repeatedly, it took some time before the animal could be caught again.
Last but not least: A passer-by smelled something on Elisenstrasse and said it could be gas. The fire department measured and checked, but couldn’t find anything – until they discovered that a nearby Asian market was selling a durian fruit that quite rightly goes by its other name, stink fruit. Danger averted, mission ended – and another message for the curiosities column.