On Monday afternoon, August 25, a major fire broke out in the port of Hamburg. The cause was apparently a car that caught fire in a warehouse. Hundreds of nitrous oxide cylinders were stored in the building and exploded one after the other. The explosions and flying debris set adjacent buildings on fire and initially made it impossible for the fire department to extinguish the flames. A thick, black column of smoke could be seen over the whole of Hamburg.
A total of 25 people had to be evacuated from the danger zone, some of them by boat. Around 18 hours have now passed and the fire department announced that around 120 firefighters are still battling the fire. According to the fire department, it could be days before the last pockets of embers are extinguished. So far, six people have been injured – including one person who was critically injured on Monday and whose life is still in danger, according to the emergency services. Another person suffered serious injuries. Among the injured are three firefighters who suffered blast trauma, as the fire department announced on Tuesday morning.
A1 reopened
The major fire in the Port of Hamburg also affected traffic: the A1 was temporarily closed in both directions between the Norderelbe junction and the Hamburg-Südost junction. Parts of the exploded pressurized gas containers were thrown onto the freeway, causing an accident in which a driver was injured and taken to hospital. An eyewitness who works in an adjacent hall reported that he saw smoke, then there was screaming and “then the debris was already flying”. The closure of the A1 was only lifted late on Monday morning, but other roads in the vicinity of the scene of the fire remained closed on Tuesday.
All-clear for smoke development
At 2 a.m., the fire department gave the all-clear regarding the heavy smoke development in the south of Hamburg. During the night, 320 firefighters and rescue workers were still in action. Due to the danger of flying debris, the firefighting work could only be started after a delay of several hours. “The explosions and the intensity of the fire were so strong that the incident commander decided to withdraw immediately after an initial evacuation and the rescue of people,” reported the fire department. Special airport vehicles, which are actually intended for extinguishing burning aircraft, armored water cannons and fire engines from the metal manufacturer Aurubis were deployed.