Today's award goes to the designers of a new fire station in Stadtallendorf, Germany.
A multi-million euro fire station in western Germany has burned down, along with 10 fire engines on the site – because it did not have any fire alarms installed.
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According to Oberhessische Presse, the fire station had not been fitted with fire alarms when it was constructed.
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“It is a nightmare for a firefighter. No one wants to have to extinguish his own fire station,” Lars Schafer, the district fire inspector, told reporters after firefighters failed to bring the blaze under control.
The fire has caused estimated damage of € 20 million (about US $21.7 million), including the loss of 10 fire engines.
There's more at the link.
A tad embarrassing, that! I wonder who was the bright spark (you should pardon the expression) who failed to include alarms in the design? And what's the bet that the replacement fire station will have fire alarms?
Peter
9 comments:
And if they had 10 engines in the buildings, where the F were the firefighters?
Out supporting the arrest of AfD members?
John in Indy
Without fire alarms, which are usually demanded for insurance coverage, I'm thinking some tax revenue will be spent on something other than graft.
Oopsie...
I'm genuinely baffled that this even happened.
First can they even sign off on a new building with that shit installed and tested. I'm pretty sure here that its a mandatory thing.. can't imaging that it isn't there.
second.. aren't fire stations inhabited 24/7. A fire starts and got so out of control that a bunch of onsite firefighters couldn't put it out? What the hell did they build that thing from. Most of the ones I have been in here in the US are brick and concrete and concrete block. Other than maybe the gas in the vehicles there usually isn't much of the way of accelerants onsite..
I suppose I should go read the full article..
oh well its behind a register/paywall... guess i'm not going to read it.
Reading further on AP, the fire may have originated inside the structure with an emergency vehicle containing lithium batteries connected to a charging system and undergoing a charging cycle at the time. It didn't exactly say EV. The architects and engineers apparently decided that the building itself didn't require fire detection or sprinkler systems. Maybe they weren't asked to accommodate charging facilities permanently installed. The National Electric Code and the National Fire Protection Association in the US affect how engineers design electrical work in proximity to battery charging areas that emit explosive hydrogen gas. These rules were being updated for EV charging when I retired.
After watching an interview with Patrick Schultz, fire inspector in Hessen, who referred to an "Akku" (short for Akkumulator, or battery) as a factor in the fire, and regional TV news the story is about the Stadtallendorfer volunteer fire department (freiwillige Feuerwehr)and the public support they're getting, local soccer team donating ticket receipts and regular people coming out of pocket to help them rebuild. They've replaced five vehicles already and will have the rest soon, neighboring municipalities are loaning equipment until they arrive.
News stories about EV fires are often about the fire department containing the damage to the ev rather than extinguishing it. Guess it's not easy even for them.
rick m
The absence of alarms didn't start the fire, nor increase the risk of fire. What did?
If they were volunteers, possibly no one was on-site at the time. Also, something like an amblance has several devices with batteries which usually are kept "trickle-charging" when at the station, including the actual truck.
Hey guys, very few of the news stories stated that there were lithium batteries involved as they are generally safe but if they cause a fire YOU CAN'T PUT IT OUT.
And I'm not advising putting on welding gloves and goggles, then cutting the top off a AA or a AAA litium battery, then dropping the of un-rolled paper thin lithium into a water filled glass bowel BECAUSE THE WATER MAKES IT BURN !!!! AND IT SHATTERED MY WIFES BOWL.
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