Shortly before the end of May 1, the Mainz fire department was called to Mombacher Straße at around 11:25 p.m. to provide assistance. For reasons that are still unclear, a car rolled backwards out of a driveway onto Mombacher Straße towards the stairs opposite the Ostein underpass, broke through the railing and came to a halt when the rear wheels slipped over the edge and the vehicle came to rest on its rear. Parts of the railing and chunks of stone fell onto the lower part of Mombacher Straße. Miraculously, no one was injured.

The police and fire department secured the accident site. While the police were busy recording the accident, the fire department cleared the debris from the street.

When a towing company arrived, the fire department helped to secure the vehicle, as one of the rear wheels was completely suspended in the air. A firefighter climbed up the wall with a ladder to attach a sling to the rear wheel.

After the vehicle had been secured and lifted away by the towing company, the area around the stairs, where a piece of the railing was now missing, was cordoned off with barrier tape.

Head of operations: Fire Chief Michael Engelhardt Fire department
vehicles: 3 Fire
department/fire brigade personnel: 10

On Sunday evening, at around 10:45 p.m., several callers reported that a fire had broken out in an apartment on Vierzehn-Nothelfer-Straße in Mainz-Gonsenheim. When the first responders from Fire Station 1 arrived, flames several meters high were already shooting out of a window on the first floor. Thick smoke was billowing from the windows throughout the entire floor and the attic.

At this point, a resident had already saved himself by jumping out of a window and was lying seriously injured on the street. First responders had also rescued people from the apartments using their own ladders and reported that there were more people trapped in the attic.

The fire department was able to rescue a total of four people who had fled from the smoke-filled apartments to the roof of the building with several teams wearing heavy breathing apparatus and a turntable ladder. At the same time, two breathing apparatus teams fought the fire on the upper floor from the outside and inside. Here, the fire had already spread to several apartments and threatened to spread to the attic.

In addition to the professional fire department, the volunteer fire departments of Gonsenheim and Drais were also involved in the extensive firefighting and rescue operations. A total of ten people were injured, three of them seriously. The health section command, several emergency doctors and ambulances, as well as the rapid response medical and care teams were deployed to provide care and assistance to those rescued.

The fire was extinguished after 45 minutes. The extensive follow-up extinguishing and ventilation work continued until 2 a.m. Meanwhile, the volunteer fire departments of Bretzenheim, Marienborn, and Stadt were on standby for further operations in the city area.

The building is currently uninhabitable. The homeless residents were temporarily accommodated in a hotel by the city of Mainz. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the criminal investigation department.

Special thanks go to the three first responders who, through their calm and decisive actions, were able to rescue several people before the fire department arrived. It is important not to put yourself in danger by entering smoke-filled areas, for example. As a result, the first responders all remained uninjured.

Head of operations: Fire Inspector Michael Ehresmann
Vehicles BF/FF: 7/4
Personnel BF/FF: 23/21
Image material: Image rights belong to the city administration of Mainz

Shortly after 1:00 p.m. today, the Mainz Fire Department was called to a residential fire on Richard-Wagner-Strasse in Mainz's Neustadt district. A neighbor had noticed the smell of smoke and smoke coming from an apartment on the first floor of an apartment building and had consequently alerted the fire department.

Upon arrival, smoke was observed coming from a window at the rear of the building. Shortly thereafter, a resident appeared and reported that his kitchen was on fire and that he had already attempted to extinguish the blaze. In doing so, he sustained burns to his hands and feet. He was immediately examined by the emergency medical services on site, who transported him to a hospital shortly thereafter.  

At the same time, a team wearing breathing apparatus entered the apartment and was able to extinguish smoldering parts of the kitchen furniture. The stairwell and the apartment where the fire had broken out were cleared of smoke.

The fire department removed parts of the kitchen furniture that had been affected and took them outside.
The cause of the fire and the associated smoke development was oil on the stove, which had become too hot and ignited. The flames then spread to parts of the furniture.

The man was very lucky that he did not extinguish the oil with water, but tried to extinguish the fire with a blanket. 

Here's a reminder: never
extinguish burning oil or grease with water. Cover the pot or pan with a lid, turn off the stove, and move the pot to a cooler part of the stove or, if possible without risk, take it outside.

In addition to the fire department, the following were also on duty: police with a patrol car, emergency medical services with an ambulance.

Head of operations: Fire inspector Tim Veith Fire department
vehicles: 3 Fire department
personnel: 10

A false alarm involving the fire department at a playground in Mainz-Gonsenheim brought smiles to children's faces on Wednesday afternoon.

At around 5:30 p.m., a mother reported her suspicion that oak processionary caterpillars had nested on a playground near the Gleisberg School. Since the city's parks department was no longer staffed, the fire department was called out to assess the danger and eliminate it if necessary.

On site, the emergency services determined that these were not oak processionary caterpillars with their dangerous stinging hairs, but a harmless species of caterpillar.

With early summer temperatures, the playground was well attended and the fire trucks and emergency services quickly attracted the attention of all the children.

Since no intervention was necessary and the approximately 15 children only had eyes for the fire department, the firefighters were happy to take the time to show off the big fire truck. Of course, all the children were allowed to touch the equipment and sit in the fire truck.

This made not only the children happy, but also their parents. For the emergency services, it was a welcome change from their recent strenuous daily routine. Of course, the emergency vehicles were ready for action at all times.

For the children, the question of what they want to be when they grow up was probably irrelevant, at least for today. Until then, anyone aged 10 or older has the opportunity to join the youth fire brigade at any fire station. Younger children (aged 6-9) can already join the children's fire brigade in Bretzenheim, Drais, Finthen, Hechtsheim, Marienborn, and Weisenau.

Head of operations: Fire Inspector Michael Ehresmann
Vehicles BF/FF: 3/0
Personnel BF/FF: 10/0
Image material: Image rights belong to the Mainz city administration.

Today, Saturday, a fire broke out in the garage of a single-family home in Mainz-Finthen, injuring three people. A fire broke out in a garage that was being used as a private workshop. The owner attempted to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher. A neighbor also rushed to help and assisted in the extinguishing efforts. The owner's wife immediately called the fire department via the emergency number 112.

All three people came into contact with smoke and required medical attention. The couple was taken to a hospital in Mainz for further treatment.

The Mainz fire department, units of the professional fire department, and the Mainz-Finthen volunteer fire department carried out follow-up extinguishing work. Parts of the workshop equipment had to be taken outside and extinguished. The power in the entire residential building had to be shut off by Mainz Netze, the electricity department.

The police have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire. The building is habitable, but property damage has been caused, the extent of which is unknown.

Head of operations: Fire officer Katja Stock
Vehicles BF/FF: 5/1
Personnel BF/FF: 18/4

After yesterday and last night were dominated by call-outs due to the weather conditions, the Mainz fire department faced other challenges on Saturday.

While the people of Rhineland-Palatinate celebrated the 75th anniversary in the city's event area, the forces from both stations had to support their colleagues from the rescue service in various operations, including opening doors to reach patients. One patient was rescued from her apartment via the turntable ladder, as it was not possible to carry her through the stairwell.

In the evening, escaping carbon dioxide in a storage area of the university hospital called for the emergency services. As only a small amount escaped and the warning systems triggered properly, no one was injured.

At the same time, the fire department was called to Mainz-Hechtsheim to respond to a traffic accident with trapped persons. Fortunately, this report was only partially confirmed. No one was trapped in their vehicles, but several people were slightly injured. This resulted in a large number of emergency services being deployed to the scene.

During the event, the official event area in Mainz's old town, the ministry district, and the Rhine promenade remained calm, and the fire department was not called into action here.

Head of operations: Sascha Faust / Sebastian Kafitz Forces
involved: Both stations of the professional fire department / Mainz-Hechtsheim fire department
Image material: Image rights belong to the Mainz city administration

The unique roofing of a semi-detached house in Mainz’s Oberstadt presented a special challenge for the fire department and THW during a roof truss fire. It took over 11 hours to extinguish the fire and secure the roof. The roof covering consisted entirely of photovoltaic panels.

At 4:17 p.m., callers reported a roof truss fire on the street “Im Sommergarten” via the emergency hotline. When the first firefighters arrived, flames were already shooting out of the roof of a semi-detached house. At the rear, a large portion of the roof was already ablaze.

Since this was a so-called “in-roof photovoltaic system”—meaning the house was covered with special photovoltaic panels instead of roof tiles—firefighting operations had to be conducted from a safe distance. Otherwise, there was a risk of electric shock to the firefighters.

The open fire was extinguished after just under an hour. Because the burning photovoltaic panels were not separated from the roof insulation by roof tiles due to the building’s design, and the ridge was made of a metal pipe, the roof beams and thermal insulation were already burning over a large area.

As a result, the affected areas had to be painstakingly exposed from the outside. To access the burning areas from the inside, cladding had to be opened and the insulation removed. Throughout all operations, the photovoltaic system—which was still generating up to 1,000 Volts of direct current—posed a danger to the firefighters.

Several volunteer fire departments were deployed for the complex work, most of which had to be carried out while wearing breathing apparatus. As darkness fell, an electrician was able to confirm that the remaining photovoltaic system no longer posed a dangerous voltage risk.

A construction consultant and the THW rescue team assisted the fire department in securing the roof. It was not until more than 11 hours later, at 3:30 a.m., that all fire pockets had been extinguished and the roof secured.

Fortunately, no one was in the building at the time of the fire. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the criminal investigation department.

Incident Commander: Fire Department Officer Katja Stock
Vehicles (Fire Department/Volunteer Fire Department): 8/6
Personnel (Fire Department/Volunteer Fire Department): 25/30
Image credits: Image rights belong to the City Administration of Mainz

On Friday morning at 9:41 a.m., the Mainz Fire Department was called to an incident on the banks of the Rhine near Fischtor. For reasons that are still unclear, a truck turning onto the riverbank struck a pedestrian with its front wheel. The woman, who was approximately 24 years old, suffered serious injuries to her leg.

Passersby who witnessed the incident immediately administered first aid, presumably saving the woman's life.

The woman was stabilized by the emergency medical services and an emergency doctor and taken to a hospital in Mainz. The fire department set up a privacy screen and assisted the emergency medical services with their efforts.

Psychological emergency counseling was called in for the first responders and the truck driver, who were then looked after. The police have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

Head of operations: Fire officer Michael Engelhardt
Vehicles BF/FF: 2/0, 1 RTW, 1 NEF
Personnel BF/FF: 8/0

A column of smoke visible from afar could be seen above the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz-Bretzenheim on Tuesday afternoon. A cooling tower at the university was on fire. Two people were injured. The damage is estimated at €200,000.

At around 12:45 p.m., several callers reported a fire at the University of Applied Sciences (FH) on Lucy-Hillebrand-Straße. The large column of smoke already pointed the way to the scene for the Mainz professional fire department, who had been alerted. A new cooling tower for the university's building services was on fire. The tower had already been deformed by the intense fire in the steel housing.

The university was evacuated as a precaution due to the smoke. However, there was no damage to the building. The fire in the system, which was not yet in operation, was extinguished after 20 minutes using two hoses. The housing had to be opened for the follow-up extinguishing work, as the inspection flaps could no longer be used due to heat-induced deformation.

Two workers were working on the plant when the fire broke out. They attempted to extinguish the fire themselves and suffered minor to moderate injuries. Both were taken to hospital. The plant was completely destroyed by the fire. The damage is estimated at around €200,000 by the specialist company responsible.

The operation was completed after 90 minutes. The building was reopened after around 30 minutes.

The exact cause of the fire is being investigated by the police.

Head of operations: Fire Inspector Michael Ehresmann
Vehicles BF/FF: 5/0
Personnel BF/FF: 17/0
Image material: Image rights belong to the Mainz city administration.

A fire at a paper warehouse on the Ingelheimer Aue prompted a large-scale operation by the Mainz fire department on Tuesday. Thanks to the rapid response of the fire department and the installed sprinkler system, a major fire was prevented.

At around 3:30 p.m., the fire department received an emergency call reporting a fire in a paper warehouse. When the first firefighters arrived, the warehouse was already heavily smoke-filled and burning piles of paper were visible. Due to the high risk of the fire spreading, numerous professional firefighters and several volunteer fire departments were alerted. The joint fireboat of the cities of Mainz and Wiesbaden also arrived on site to ensure the water supply from the industrial port.

Thanks to the sprinkler system being triggered and the targeted extinguishing efforts of several teams wearing heavy breathing apparatus, the fire was prevented from spreading to the rest of the warehouse. The heavy smoke made the work on site difficult. Due to this smoke and the large number of vehicles arriving at the scene, the population was informed about the large-scale operation via the KatWarn and Nina warning apps.

After about an hour, the fire was under control. To finally extinguish the burning piles of paper, they had to be pulled apart with wheel loaders and the embers extinguished in a targeted manner. After three hours, the operation was finally over.

The rescue service coordinated its operation through the "health section management" (senior emergency doctor and organizational manager). Five employees of the company suffered minor to moderate injuries from smoke inhalation.

The fire department cannot provide any information about the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage.

During the operation, the vacant stations of the professional fire department were manned by volunteer fire departments, which had been called out to other small incidents in the city during this time.

Head of operations: Senior Fire Chief Mark Jüliger
Vehicles BF/FF: 14/7
Personnel BF/FF: 32/34