At around 4:10 p.m. this Thursday afternoon, the Mainz Fire Department was called to a traffic accident on the BAB 60 motorway in the direction of Bingen, between the Mainz-Lerchenberg and Mainz-Finthen junctions. Due to the emergency call reporting that it was a traffic accident involving more than three cars and it was unclear whether people were trapped in the vehicles, a large number of personnel from fire stations 1 and 2, the Mainz-Bretzenheim volunteer fire department, and the rescue service were dispatched.
After the first responders from fire station 1 arrived, it was determined that, fortunately, no one was trapped in any of the vehicles. It was a rear-end collision involving a total of four cars. Based on this assessment of the situation, the responders who were still on their way to the scene were immediately released from duty. The fire department looked after the people involved until the emergency medical services arrived, scattered binding agent on leaking fuel and disconnected vehicle batteries.

As the accident site spanned both lanes, the BAB 60 motorway had to be completely closed in the direction of Bingen for a time. The operation caused a considerable traffic jam in the direction of Bingen during rush hour. In consultation with the motorway police, the right lane was cleared as quickly as possible so that at least one lane in the direction of Bingen could be reopened.
In addition to the Mainz fire department, the rescue service and the Heidesheim highway police were also on the scene.

The emergency services had great difficulty reaching the scene, as not all road users formed the required emergency lane properly, and some even changed lanes immediately in front of the emergency vehicles.

Head of operations: Fire Chief Markus Ketelaer
BF/FF vehicles: 8/1
BF/FF personnel: 23/6

A storm with heavy rain on Wednesday evening, August 16, 2023, starting at around 8 p.m., resulted in numerous callouts for the fire departments in the Mainz city area and the surrounding districts of Mainz-Bingen and Alzey-Worms. At 8:34 p.m., a storm warning was issued for the control center area. There were more than

60 call-outs in the Mainz city area by 10:45 p.m., with more still ongoing; both fire stations of the professional fire department and all volunteer fire departments in the city of Mainz are on duty. Most of the call-outs involved water ingress in buildings, but in the meantime, two fire alarm systems also had to be dealt with; In addition, there was one case of smoke development in a building in Mainz-Hechtsheim, which was also handled professionally and quickly. 167 members of the Mainz fire department were on duty on Wednesday evening, including firefighter trainees from the basic training course who were called into alarm service. 

The control center of the Mainz professional fire department, which is responsible for the city of Mainz and the districts of Mainz-Bingen and Alzey-Worms, was supported on Wednesday evening by off-duty officers; all cases reported to the control center are handled according to priority. 

In the Mainz-Bingen district, there were already 160 calls for the fire department and rescue services by 10:45 p.m. on Wednesday evening, with the focus of operations here being the Rhein-Selz administrative district. Here, too, most of the reports concern water in buildings. 

In the Alzey-Worms district, around 60 calls had been recorded by 10:45 p.m.; here, too, the majority of reports concerned water in buildings.

Due to the weather conditions and the large number of locations, these are being handled according to priority.

On August 17, 2023, at 6:39 p.m., the Mainz Fire Department was called to a traffic accident on the A60 federal highway in the direction of Bingen, near the Mainz-Finthen exit. A motorcycle and a car had collided, causing the motorcyclist to be thrown from his vehicle and come to rest in the grass verge.

Numerous first responders, including a doctor, immediately sprang into action to help the seriously injured rider. The accident site was secured and the first responders successfully extinguished the motorcycle, which had caught fire, with a powder extinguisher. Another commendable aspect was that road users formed an exemplary rescue lane on their way to the scene.

In addition to the professional fire department, the Johanniter rescue service and the Heidesheim highway police were also on site. The injured motorcyclist was taken to a hospital in Mainz for further treatment.

Head of operations: Sascha Faust Fire department
vehicles: 3 Fire department
personnel: 10

Shortly after 3:00 p.m. today, Monday, several callers reported a fire in a shed on Hermann-Löns-Straße in Mainz-Finthen. The fire department control center dispatched professional firefighters and volunteers from the Finthen fire department. A thick column of smoke could be seen above Finthen even as they were driving to the scene.

For reasons that are still unclear, the shed, which was built directly against the wall of a terraced house, caught fire at the rear of the property. When the first responders arrived, the flames had already reached the roof tiles. Two teams wearing breathing apparatus were immediately deployed to fight the fire, each with a C-hollow jet pipe. Residents reported that the homeowner was on vacation. Since it could not be ruled out that the fire had spread to the interior of the house, access to the house was gained. Fortunately, there was only minor smoke damage inside.

Parts of the roof were removed using a turntable ladder and checked for embers using a thermal imaging camera. Parts of the ceiling inside the attic also had to be removed to check for embers. Due to the operation in Finthen and several parallel operations in the city area, as well as in the Mainz-Bingen district, Fire Station 1 was manned by forces from the Mainz-Bretzenheim Volunteer Fire Department, among others.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the police. Thanks to the quick alert by attentive residents, major damage was prevented.

Operations manager: Tim Veith
BF/FF vehicles: 6/2
BF/FF personnel: 19/7

Shortly after 9:00 p.m., a rear-end collision involving three vehicles occurred on the A60 between the Hechtsheim-West and Hechtsheim-Ost junctions in the direction of Darmstadt. As a result, four people were moderately injured and three people suffered minor injuries.

Fortunately, all of the individuals were able to leave the vehicles involved in the accident on their own. Until the emergency services arrived, the fire department provided first aid to the patients and secured the accident site. Due to the large number of injured persons, the health section command was alerted and dispatched with the appropriate number of emergency vehicles.

The fire department then illuminated the accident site for the police and emergency services. All patients had to be transported to nearby hospitals for further treatment. After the accident vehicles were removed, the highway maintenance department cleaned up the accident site.

Head of operations: Christian Kleinschmidt Fire
department/fire brigade vehicles: 4/2 Fire
department/fire brigade personnel: 11/10