B 038 - Bus and Building Fire in Imsweiler
| Incident Number: | B 038 |
| Date: | 29.01.2024 |
| Alarm time: | 13:10 |
| End of operation: | 15:15 |
| Incident keyword: | Bus and Building Fire |
Report
A fire broke out on a public bus in Imsweiler for reasons that remain unclear. Fortunately, the driver was able to exit the bus in time; it was empty at the time. Due to the rapid spread of the flames, which immediately threatened an adjacent residential building, the alert level in the municipality of Rockenhausen was raised. Firefighters from the Winnweiler Municipal Association (VG) supported the on-site emergency responders with breathing apparatus in the HLF1 rescue and firefighting vehicle as well as with the turntable ladder. The Otterberg Fire Department also arrived to provide support; they had coincidentally just responded to a traffic accident in the Gehrweiler area. In addition, the Donnersberg District’s drone unit was called in.
The emergency responders from Winnweiler focused primarily on protecting the affected building and, wearing breathing apparatus, inspected the interior of the building, while firefighters from the Rockenhausen municipal association and the Otterberg Fire Department took charge of extinguishing the fire on the bus. Using the turntable ladder, they were able to inspect the roof structure and create a smoke vent. The residents of the house were able to evacuate unharmed on their own, even though significant smoke had spread throughout the building. Thanks to the fire departments’ rapid response, the flames were prevented from spreading to the roof or to larger parts of the house.
The drone unit assisted the incident command by providing important information about temperatures in the area of the house's roof. This allowed firefighters to target their efforts and identify potential hot spots.
In addition to the firefighters, numerous emergency responders from the Donnersberg District’s disaster response team were also on the scene, including units from the hazardous materials response team, which prevented the spread of the firefighting water contaminated with oil and diesel.
The B 48 federal highway had to be completely closed for the duration of the firefighting and cleanup operations.
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