Brand-new fire station in Germany destroyed in blaze lacked fire alarm system

A new fire station in Germany that was destroyed in a fire, causing millions of euros in damage, did not have a fire alarm system.

The fire broke out early Wednesday morning at the Stadtallendorf fire station in Hesse and destroyed the equipment hall and almost a dozen emergency vehicles, according to local media.

Initial estimates put the damage at between €20 million and €24 million. No one was injured.

Local officials told the German news agency dpa that no fire alarm system was installed in the building because experts had considered it not necessary — much to the astonishment of many observers now that the station has burned down.

The fire broke out on an emergency vehicle belonging to the fire department, which contained lithium-ion batteries and an external power connection.

The station opened less than a year ago, local media reported.

“I believe that what has happened will make many people think and act,” about improving fire protection requirements at fire stations, Norbert Fischer, the head of the State Fire Brigade Association of the state of Hesse, said.

Precisely because there is a lot of technology in fire stations and batteries are being charged, it would make sense to equip them with fire alarm systems, Fischer said, noting it was unclear whether such a system could have prevented the worst in Stadtallendorf.

“This fire spread at breakneck speed," he said.