On July 3, 2023, the Mainz Fire Department was called to an accident at work in the Gonsenheim district. A craftsman injured his shoulder while working on scaffolding.

The professional fire department's emergency services provided rapid first aid to the injured person. After receiving initial treatment from the fire department, the craftsman received further medical care from the emergency doctor who had also been called to the scene. Due to the height of the scaffolding and the nature of the injury, the emergency services decided to rescue the accident victim using the turntable ladder.

The injured craftsman was successfully rescued using the turntable ladder. He was then taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment. The exact severity of his injury is currently unknown.

In addition to the professional fire department, the police, the rescue service, and the regional office of the trade supervisory authority were also involved in the operation.

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

On Wednesday afternoon, a wildfire broke out between Mainz-Ebersheim and Nieder-Olm, producing heavy smoke. Firefighters and farmers were able to stop the fire just before it reached a farm.

At around 1:50 p.m., a farmer noticed that the field he was working on was on fire and alerted the fire department. Due to the dry conditions and strong winds, the fire quickly spread to an area of about two hectares. A large column of smoke prompted numerous emergency calls.

In response to the reports, tank fire trucks from Mainz-Finthen and Wörrstadt were alerted in addition to the Mainz professional fire department and the Ebersheim and Nieder-Olm volunteer fire departments.

When the fire department arrived, several fields, some of which had not yet been harvested, were in flames and the fire was spreading towards a wind turbine and a farm. Thanks to the rapid response of the fire department and farmers with tractors, the spread of the fire was quickly stopped.

The fire was extinguished after about an hour. While still on the scene, the emergency services noticed smoke rising from a workshop fire in the municipality of Gau-Algesheim. Available personnel from Nieder-Olm and Wörrstatt were immediately called off the scene and were able to assist with the large fire there.

Thanks to the excellent cooperation between the fire departments of several municipalities and the support of farmers, only farmland was destroyed. No one was injured. The cause of the fire is unclear and is being investigated by the police.

Head of operations: Michael Ehresmann
Vehicles BF/FF: 4 BF Mainz, 2 FF Mainz, 5 FF Nieder-Olm/FF Wörrstadt
Personnel BF/FF: approx. 30 in total

On Thursday evening, a kettle caught fire on a hotplate in an apartment in a multi-family house in Mainz-Gonsenheim. One person was rescued from the smoke-filled apartment by the fire department, treated by the emergency services, and taken to a hospital in Mainz.

The Mainz fire department was alerted at 6:22 p.m. to smoke coming from a building in Mainz-Gonsenheim. On the way there, the alarm code was upgraded to a residential fire with people needing rescue due to further reports. When the emergency services arrived, the stairwell of the apartment building was filled with smoke and people were visible at the window and in front of the building. One person was still believed to be in the apartment where the fire had broken out.

Rescue operations and firefighting were initiated immediately and the smoke-filled stairwell was checked. A short time later, one person was rescued from the affected apartment and handed over to the emergency medical services. The burnt kettle was quickly extinguished.

The stairwell and the affected apartment were then ventilated with a high-pressure fan. The residents were able to return to their apartments after the ventilation measures had been completed.

In addition to the Mainz fire department, the police, the emergency medical services, and the gas department of Mainzer Netze were on site.

Head of operations: Özkan Celik
BF/FF vehicles: 6/3
BF/FF personnel: 18/22

At around 7:20 p.m., the Mainz fire department control center was informed of smoke development in the Laubenheimer Höhe area. At the same time, further emergency calls about the fire were received by dispatchers, who then dispatched several fire engines and tanker trucks. A rescue helicopter that happened to be in the air was able to confirm the situation while en route.

In the meantime, the fire had spread to a combine harvester. The volunteer fire department was the first unit on the scene and was able to quickly bring the fire under control. They were later supported by the professional fire department. The water supply was ensured with the help of two tanker trucks, each carrying 4,000 liters of water. Two farmers also contributed significantly to the success of the operation by quickly digging up and "cultivating" parts of the affected grain field, thus preventing the fire from spreading further.

After about 30 minutes, the fire was brought under control and largely extinguished. The follow-up extinguishing work on the combine harvester took even longer, and after a total of about 3 hours, the operation was completed.

Head of operations: Jonas Hahn Fire
department/fire brigade vehicles: 5/4 Fire
department/fire brigade personnel: 44

At around 7:20 p.m., a traffic accident involving two cars occurred at the intersection of Große Bleiche and Umbach in Mainz's old town. After the collision, the rear car crashed into a traffic light pole and knocked it over. The airbags in both vehicles were deployed as a result of the impact. Attentive passers-by alerted the emergency services. The Mainz fire department arrived with two rescue fire trucks and an incident command vehicle, and the emergency medical services and police were also alerted to the scene.

The fire department took charge of caring for the people involved until the ambulance service arrived. Since one of the vehicles was an electric vehicle and had collided with the traffic light, a thermal imaging camera was used to check whether the battery had been damaged. Fortunately, no abnormalities were found. The people involved were treated by the ambulance service on site.

Throughout the operation, the fire department secured the scene against traffic. Due to the traffic situation, the intersection had to be partially closed, causing traffic disruptions. The police then took over traffic control. The Department of Transportation was also notified so that the necessary measures could be taken with regard to the damaged traffic light.

When the fire department arrived, a large crowd had already gathered at the scene, filming the incident with their mobile devices, among other things. The crowd could only be dispersed by the fire department actively addressing them so that the emergency services could work without obstruction.

After approximately 25 minutes, the Mainz fire department's operation was complete. The area continued to be secured by the police.

Head of operations: Fire Inspector Nicolas Moutty Fire department
vehicles: 3 Fire department
personnel: 14

On Sunday evening, a cable fire broke out at the cable end closure in a transformer station in Mainz-Hechtsheim. The cable fire led to further disruptions at approximately 13 transformer stations and caused a power outage of unknown extent.

The Mainz fire department was alerted at around 8:19 p.m. to smoke coming from a transformer station in Mainz-Hechtsheim. When the first emergency services arrived, an employee of Mainzer Netze GmbH was already on site and had opened the entrance doors. Furthermore, the transformer station had already been disconnected from the power supply. This allowed the emergency services to gain quick access to the transformer station.

Due to the low temperatures at the localized fire site, the use of extinguishing agents was not necessary. The transformer station was ventilated with a high-pressure fan, checked with a thermal imaging camera, and handed over to Mainzer Netze GmbH employees after the carbon monoxide concentration was measured.

Head of operations: Özkan Celik
BF/FF vehicles: 3/2
BF/FF personnel: 10/13

Shortly before midnight, a garden shed belonging to a gardening club in Mainz's Oberstadt district was fully ablaze. The fire completely destroyed the garden shed.

The Mainz fire department was alerted to a garden shed fire in Mainz-Oberstadt on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at around 11:58 p.m. When the fire department arrived, people were already making themselves known and guiding the fire department to the burning garden shed.

The garden shed, which was fully engulfed in flames, was located approximately 150 meters from the street. Using a hose reel, the required length of hose was quickly laid out to the burning garden shed and the fire was extinguished from two sides.
In the meantime, there was a heavy shower of sparks as the fire spread to the crown of a tree. The fire was prevented from spreading further.

After a short time, the fire was under control. In addition to fighting the fire, a propane gas cylinder had to be cooled with water at times. The gas cylinder was then immersed in a barrel filled with water.

After the fire was reported to be out, extensive follow-up extinguishing work was carried out and the entire area was checked with a thermal imaging camera.

In addition to the Mainz fire department, the police and emergency medical services were also on site. No information can be provided about the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage.

Incident commander: Özkan Celik Fire
department/fire brigade vehicles: 5/3 Fire
department/fire brigade personnel: 20/21

Shortly before 5 p.m. this Friday afternoon, several people reported a fire in the field between Koblenzer Straße and the A60 motorway. The emergency services, who were immediately alerted by the fire department control center, could already see significant smoke development on their way to the scene.

By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had already spread to a field and was being fanned by a strong wind, which significantly increased the smoke and caused the fire to spread rapidly toward the Mewa Arena and Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The incident commander therefore requested additional personnel to the scene.

On site, the professional and volunteer firefighters were supported by several farmers. Although the affected fields could not be saved, this at least prevented the fire from spreading further.

Thanks to the massive deployment of personnel, the fire was extinguished after about 45 minutes, except for a few small pockets of embers. These were removed in the course of the operation, which was completed after about an hour and a half.

The professional fire department and the volunteer fire departments of Bretzenheim and Finthen were active on site. Fire station 1 was manned by the volunteer fire departments of Marienborn and Bretzenheim during the operation.

The dispatchers at the fire department control center were particularly challenged. Between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., the control center received over 100 emergency calls due to the burning fields alone. At the same time, they also had to deal with a truck fire on the A61, a larger wildfire in Schornsheim, and a smaller wildfire in Ensheim, both in the Alzey-Worms district. Fortunately, another wildfire reported in the area of the exhibition grounds in Hechtsheim turned out to be a false alarm.

The fire department cannot provide any information about the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage. The area affected by the fire is estimated at approximately 95,000 square meters.

Head of operations: Jan Peuser Fire department
vehicles: 9 Fire department
personnel: 40

The Mainz Fire Department was called today at 5:24 p.m. to a wildfire in the area of Rheinhessenstraße between Hechtsheim and Ebersheim.

The fire department’s command center received a large number of emergency calls, as the fire was visible from a great distance due to a thick column of smoke. Personnel from Fire Stations 1 and 2 of the professional fire department, as well as, initially, the Ebersheim Volunteer Fire Department, were dispatched to the scene.
According to initial reports from farmers, the fire involved approximately 4,000 m² of burning stubble field containing round bales. A westerly wind fanned the flames and drove them toward the old tank road, causing the fire to spread rapidly and also ignite a manure pile.

The rapid spread of the fire required additional resources, so in addition to the municipal volunteer fire departments of Hechtsheim, Finthen, and Weisenau, units from the Mainz-Bingen district and from the Bodenheim and Nieder-Olm municipal association were also called in.

Thanks to the increased number of personnel and the assistance provided by several farmers with their equipment, the fire was brought under control after about an hour. At times, the fire department had six C-hoses in use simultaneously. To ensure a steady supply of water, a shuttle service involving three fire trucks was established. The scene was also surveyed from the air using the drone unit from the Mainz-Bingen district, based in the Bodenheim municipal association. Fire Station 1,
which was left unmanned during the operation, was staffed by the Bretzenheim and Marienborn volunteer fire departments.

By approximately 8:15 p.m., the fire was finally extinguished and the fire department’s operation was concluded.

Incident Commander: Michael Ehresmann Fire Department/Volunteer Fire Department
Vehicles: 5/9, 4 of which were from the district Fire Department/Volunteer Fire Department
Personnel: 16/50, 15 of whom were from the district

On Wednesday morning, a report of a suspected roof fire in Mainz's Neustadt district caused a major alarm for the fire department. Ultimately, it turned out to be a cistern burning in an attic apartment. The fire was quickly extinguished.

At 9:30 a.m., callers reported that smoke was coming from several windows in the attic of a five-story building on Werderstraße, smoke detectors were beeping, and flames were visible. Based on the report and the dense development on this street, both fire engines from the professional fire department and the city's volunteer fire department were alerted to a roof truss fire.

On site, the emergency services did indeed find smoke coming from the window of a dormer and flames visible. In the apartment, the crew wearing breathing apparatus found a burning cistern in the bathroom and was able to extinguish it with a few liters of water. The apartment was ventilated and no one was injured.

The majority of the emergency services were therefore able to return to base after a few minutes. In case of possible parallel operations, additional fire engines were already manned by day shift personnel from the professional fire department when the alarm was raised.

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

Head of operations: Christoph Berghäuser
Vehicles BF/FF: 5/1
Personnel BF/FF: 23/6

This evening, a tractor caught fire in a field near the village of Mainz-Laubenheim. The professional and volunteer fire departments were alerted and worked together to bring the fire under control.

The incident occurred at around 7:00 p.m. and caused a column of smoke to rise above the affected farmland, which was visible from afar. Numerous residents then alerted the fire department.

The professional and volunteer fire departments immediately dispatched several fire trucks and emergency personnel to the scene of the fire. The two fire departments worked together excellently, enabling them to fight the fire efficiently.
The tractor driver's prudent actions prevented the flames from spreading to neighboring fields and buildings. Nevertheless, the tractor was completely destroyed by the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

The cause of the fire is currently unclear and is being investigated by the authorities. It is suspected that a technical defect in the tractor may have been responsible for the fire. The extent of the damage is also still being determined.

Once the firefighting operations were complete, the firefighters were able to leave the scene and return to their stations. The Mainz professional and volunteer fire departments, the rescue service, the police, and the environmental agency were all involved in the operation.

Head of operations: Sebastian Schmitt
BF/FF vehicles: 3/1
BF/FF personnel: 10/8

Early on Saturday evening, a fire broke out in the kitchen area of a restaurant in Mainz's old town. A dishwasher had caught fire, presumably due to a technical defect. Following the emergency call, both professional fire stations and the Mainz-Stadt volunteer fire department were immediately alerted. While the fire department was still on its way to the scene, restaurant employees immediately attempted to extinguish the fire with available fire extinguishers and disconnected the machine from the power supply. Fortunately, these measures were successful and the fire was extinguished in its early stages.

The fire department, which had arrived in the meantime, checked the dishwasher with a thermal imaging camera, ruling out any further danger. No further action by the fire department was necessary. However, the operation in Mainz's very busy old town still caused quite a stir.

Thanks to the prudent and quick action of the employees, the fire did not spread and worse could not happen.

In addition to the Mainz fire department, the rescue service was also on site with an ambulance.

Head of operations: Fire officer Markus Ketelaer Fire department
vehicles: 1 command vehicle, 2 rescue fire engines, 1 turntable ladder Fire department
personnel: 16

After heavy rainfall, several calls were made on Tuesday afternoon in Mainz's Neustadt district due to flooded basements and underground parking garages. In addition to the professional fire department, several volunteer fire departments were also called in to pump out the water.

From 10:30 a.m. onwards, numerous emergency calls reached the fire department control center. Around Rheinallee, streets were knee-deep in rainwater. In some cases, the water flowed into basements and underground garages. The control center immediately increased its capacity to handle the situation and sent the first responders to the flooded basements.

At a total of ten locations, basements and garages, in some cases belonging to several buildings, were extensively flooded. In some basements, the water was over a meter high. Firefighters used pumps at all locations to remove the water from the buildings.

The volunteer fire departments of Drais, Mombach, Stadt, and Weisenau were called to the scene to deal with all the locations. As several vehicles from the professional fire department were also involved in the operations, the volunteer fire departments manned Fire Station 2 for parallel operations.

From 1 p.m. onwards, the situation eased again, allowing the first responders to return to base. Fifteen vehicles with 75 personnel were deployed in Mainz within a very short time to repair the water damage.

Operations officer: Marius Dick
BF/FF vehicles: 15
BF/FF personnel: 75

Residents of an apartment building in Finthen complained of eye irritation and shortness of breath. As the cause was unclear, the fire department was alerted shortly after 4 p.m. and sent a large number of personnel to Finthen. To determine the exact cause, several teams wearing special protective suits entered the building and discovered large quantities of a substance in the stairwell.
The fire department collected the substance and took various measurements of the indoor air. A sample was transported to specialists at the Ludwigshafen professional fire department for analysis. A technical advisor from the THW provided support at the scene.
Due to the clearly perceptible gas concentration in the stairwell, access to the building had to be blocked and the residents in the building were asked to remain in their apartments.

Residual substances were collected using a special chemical binding agent, the affected area was covered, and the basement was closed off. After the building had been thoroughly ventilated and most of the substance had been removed from the building, the house was reopened at 8:15 p.m.

Analysis of the substance revealed an aggressive chemical additive for disinfection, which is normally used in much smaller quantities in facilities. The fire department was able to eliminate the danger by absorbing, covering, and ventilating the area.

Fortunately, no one was injured. The residents in front of the building waited patiently until they could return to their apartments.
Fire Station 1 was manned by the Bretzenheim and Marienborn volunteer fire departments.

Head of operations: Michael Weitzel
Vehicles BF/FF: 7/1
Personnel BF/FF: 20/9

On Thursday morning at around 6:15 a.m., several callers reported a residential fire on Katzenberg street in Mainz-Finthen via the 112 emergency number. They also reported that the stairwell was already filling with smoke and that people trapped inside were signaling for help from the balcony.

Based on these reports, the fire department control center alerted an extended firefighting unit from the professional fire department as well as the Finthen volunteer fire department with the alarm code "fire with rescue." Already on the way there, a clear column of smoke showed the emergency services the way.

In an apartment building, the kitchen of a ground floor apartment was on fire. Fortunately, it quickly became clear that no one was left in the apartment where the fire had broken out. The two residents of the apartment had been awakened in time by smoke detectors and were able to save themselves unharmed by jumping from the balcony.

While firefighters wearing heavy breathing apparatus began extinguishing the fire, the stairwell was ventilated and kept smoke-free. The adjacent apartments on the ground floor and first floor were checked. The fire department was able to limit the spread of smoke to the apartment where the fire broke out and the hallway on the ground floor.

The fire department's operation was completed after about an hour. The apartment is uninhabitable due to the fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the police.

The fire department uses this example to remind people once again that closed doors and functioning smoke detectors save lives. Even if the fire had broken out on an upper floor, the people trapped inside could still have been rescued by the fire department in time.

Head of operations: Özkan Celik Fire department
vehicles: 6/1 Fire department
personnel: 19/6