Western town
Fire in “Pullman City”: restart in spring
Despite severe damage, the western town of “Pullman City” wants to offer its full program again in the spring. photo
© Armin Weigel/dpa
A fire has caused severe devastation in the western town of “Pullman City” in the Bavarian Forest. But the day after that, you get stuck in: cleaning up, rebuilding – looking ahead.
Charred pieces of wood are still lying around. Excavators are on the way. Experts with pads and pens trudge past burnt-down buildings. One day after the serious fire in the The clean-up has begun in the western town of “Pullman City” in Eging am See, northwest of Passau.
Despite severe damage, the adventure park plans to offer its full program again in the spring. “We assume that we will be able to start operations again at the end of March or mid-April,” said the theme park’s managing director, Claus Six, to the German Press Agency.
Damage in the double-digit million range
All planned events would then take place, including the US Car meeting with historic cars, the Karl May weekend and the Harley meeting. But: “Really rebuilding the entire city on this scale – that will be autumn,” said Six. The damage is in the double-digit million range.
According to police, the cause of the fire was initially unclear. “The investigations are going in all directions,” said a spokeswoman for the Lower Bavaria police headquarters. The Passau Criminal Police Inspectorate has taken over the investigation. There was an inspection of the fire site; an expert from the State Criminal Police Office was called in.
Firefighters fought the flames on Main Street for hours on Sunday. Several wooden buildings including a steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant, the prison and the music hall burned down. The fire was largely extinguished by midday. Since the fire kept flaring up in some places, emergency services were also on site on Monday night.
Now the rubble and ashes are being cleared away, reported Six. Among other things, they are in the process of restoring water and electricity supplies. “We are currently cleaning up and looking forward,” said Six. “I can’t bury my head in the sand. We’ve survived Corona – we’ll get through this too.”
He is in discussions with companies for reconstruction. In any case, construction was taking place on the site. “We were just expanding.” A zoo, a climbing park, playgrounds, a wellness area and around 40 employee apartments are to be built on a new, seven-hectare site. “These plans are continuing,” emphasized Six.
Guests and animals rescued
It is only thanks to his employees that no one was injured in the fire. According to Six, the fire broke out at the entrance to the Music Hall. Employees who arrived around 6 a.m. to prepare breakfast for the overnight guests discovered the fire and reacted correctly immediately. They woke up the approximately 180 overnight guests and brought them to safety. “It’s thanks to them that we didn’t have any personal injuries.” According to the police, an employee was slightly injured during the first attempts to extinguish the fire, as was a firefighter.
Dozens of animals were brought outside as a precaution, including donkeys, horses, goats and llamas. Some of them were able to return to their stables on Sunday evening. Everyone would have helped. “An absolute special compliment to the employees.”
The park for cowboy fans attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Depending on the weather, there are pony rides. Children can visit a small animal enclosure and meet the Ice Princess, Snow White and Co. According to Six, up to 500 permanent and freelance employees work in the park. Pullman City opened in 1997. Six has been managing director since the park’s bankruptcy in 2011. There is a similar park with the same name in the Harz. They are on friendly terms, but the businesses are separate, said Six.