North Rhine-Westphalia
Bochum warehouse destroyed in a major fire
The fire brigade searches for the last nests of fire with a demolition excavator. Photo: Roland Weihrauch / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The bitter balance: “What was in there is broken,” said a fire department spokesman. The fire brigade lasted more than 17 hours.
In a major fire in Bochum right next to the A 40 motorway, a warehouse for high-quality construction machinery was destroyed on Monday evening.
Due to the strong smoke and flames, the A40 in the direction of Dortmund was temporarily closed in the evening. The police lifted the lock at around 11 p.m. Nobody got hurt. The 20 by 100 meter hall had partially collapsed, said a fire department spokesman. “What was in there is broken.”
The extinguishing work lasted until Tuesday afternoon. The Bochum fire brigade ended its large-scale operation with more than 180 workers after 17 hours at around 3 p.m. A special excavator from a demolition company had previously removed large parts of the collapsed hall structure so that the last nests of fire could be extinguished in a controlled manner. The authorities have not yet been able to say anything about the cause of the fire.
Already at the end of August there was a major fire in a tire warehouse on the A40 in Bochum, just a few kilometers away. The police suspected arson, but have not yet been able to catch the perpetrators.
After the fire in the direction of Dortmund, the autobahn had to be closed for over two months because a retaining wall had been damaged. It will reopen on Wednesday morning. Whether there could be a connection between the two fires is pure speculation, said a police spokeswoman.
In the recent fire, the hall had burned to its full extent. According to the fire brigade, it was possible to prevent the flames from spreading to a workshop hall, outdoor storage areas and a diesel tank. According to the fire brigade, increased levels of pollutants in the air could not be measured.