On the afternoon of April 9, 2021, shortly after 4 p.m., the Mainz Fire Department was called to a traffic accident in Mainz-Hechtsheim. On Ludwig-Erhard-Straße, just after the Hechtsheim-West highway exit, there had been a collision between a car and a truck. There were two people in the car. The passenger was able to leave the vehicle on her own, while the driver was still in the vehicle but not trapped. Both people were immediately attended to by the fire department until the emergency medical services arrived. The truck driver was uninjured.

While attending to the individuals, the fire department secured the scene of the accident. Once the emergency services and an emergency doctor arrived, they took over the care of the individuals involved. Both were taken to hospitals in Mainz for further treatment.

Due to the rescue operations, Ludwig-Erhard-Straße had to be completely closed in the direction of Mainz-Ebersheim, causing a significant traffic jam in both directions on the BAB 60 motorway during rush hour. Traffic coming from Mainz-Ebersheim was able to pass the scene of the accident in one lane at slow speed in the direction of the motorway. This also caused a traffic jam.

Head of operations: Fire Inspector Markus Ketelaer Fire department
vehicles: 1 command vehicle, 2 rescue fire engines
Fire department personnel: 14

The Mainz Fire Department was alerted at around 8:30 a.m. to a basement fire on Büchnerallee in Lerchenberg. Crews from both professional fire stations and the Mainz-Drais Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene. Upon arrival, they observed heavy smoke billowing from a bungalow. Fortunately, no people were still inside the building, but a cat was still inside.

Two teams wearing breathing apparatus entered the basement from two sides to fight the fire. At the same time, a search was conducted on the ground floor for the missing cat. The fire was quickly brought under control—however, extinguishing the remaining embers and mechanically ventilating the building to clear the smoke proved time-consuming.

The missing cat was found alive during the operation. The house is currently uninhabitable due to the fire, and the residents are staying with relatives. The adjacent houses were also inspected—and smoke was detected in the basement area of one of them as well.

However, natural ventilation was sufficient to clear the smoke from the basement. After approximately 2.5 hours, the fire department’s operation was complete.

In addition to the fire department, emergency medical services, the police, Mainzer Netze, and Mainzer Mobilität were also on the scene.

Incident Commander: Senior Fire Inspector Christian Kleinschmidt Fire Department
Vehicles: 5/2 Fire Department
Personnel: 17/12
Image Credit: Image rights belong to the City of Mainz

A fire on the night of April 29, 2021, severely damaged the restaurant of the "Grün-Weiß Mainz" clubhouse.

At around 1:45 a.m., several callers reported unclear smoke coming from the tennis club building on Gleisbergweg in Gonsenheim. When the fire department arrived at the scene shortly afterwards, thick smoke was coming out of the cracks and door gaps of an extension. An assessment of the situation revealed that the smoke had already spread throughout the entire restaurant and up to the upper floor. However, no open flames were visible at first, and the exterior windows were still intact. 

The fire department entered the building through two doors to extinguish the fire. The fire had already spread to all combustible objects inside the annex and ignited with a jet of flame when the side door was forcibly opened by the fire department. However, the furniture and stored goods in the annex were quickly extinguished by one team, while the other team began to clear the smoke from the building via the main entrance.

The professional fire department units were supported by the Mainz-Gonsenheim volunteer fire department, while the ASB provided emergency medical services at the scene. The follow-up extinguishing work took some time, as the annex had to be cleared to locate embers and the roof had to be partially opened. The last emergency personnel left the scene at around 3:30 a.m. 

The fire department cannot comment on the cause of the fire as the police are still investigating.

Head of operations: Fire Chief Mario Ambrosius
Vehicles BF/FF: 6
Personnel BF/FF: 30
Image material: Image rights belong to the Mainz city administration.