Roof completely in flames

Shortly after 3:00 a.m., the professional FD in Brandenburg received an alarm about a large building in flames. Due to numerous calls, the Volunteer Fire Departments in Brandenburg and Kirchmöser were called a few minutes later. The site of the fire was the old part of Brandenburg with its historic traditional buildings. Upon arrival, the roof of a row of houses consisting of four units was already in flames. In addition, the roof of a house in the rear courtyard was also burning. Further adjacent buildings were just as endangered; a spread of the fire to houses on the opposite side of the street could not be excluded.

The first attack inside the building had to be discontinued due to the rapid progress of the fire. It was now only possible to fight the fire from the outside. Getting water from underground hydrants initially caused problems as well. With the TLF 16/24 of the professional FD, a water source was set up on the Havel River. The small streets were blocked by parked cars, which impeded the work of the Fire Department even more.

No persons had to be saved because they had been able to leave the buildings on their own. Neighbouring buildings were also evacuated. The FF Brandenburg took over the firefighting using the professional FD's turntable ladder. An additional TS8/8 was positioned at the Havel to create a second water supply for the back. With the crew of the FF Brandenburg's TLF16/24, a second operational sector was formed for the back of the building. In the middle of the building, a massive extinguishing attack using a B hose was started. Firefighters began extinguishing the fire along the right and left flanks with C hoses. Their goal was to control the fire and prevent it from spreading to other buildings, which they successfully accomplished.

The firefighters paid close attention to a vacant building in the back courtyard that was already in danger of collapsing and had caught fire. Fighting the fire in this building had to be limited to only the most necessary operations.

During the extinguishing operations, one of the buildings finally did collapse. Forces from the FF Klein Kreutz were also requested to come to the site. The main station of the FF Göttin was alarmed; it secured the city's operational readiness. The FF Kirchmöser also created a water source on the Havel River with its TLF16/24. The second turntable ladder was positioned and then used to fight the fire. At 9:00 a.m., forces at the site could be relieved. The FF Brandenburg remained until 3:00 p.m. to complete all extinguishing activities at the site. Afterwards, the professional Brandenburg FD took over with follow-up and further extinguishing work.

The city of Brandenburg has a professional fire department and nine volunteer fire departments. That night, in addition to the first brigade of the professional Brandenburg FD and the Volunteer Fire Department Brandenburg, the Volunteer Fire Departments of Kirchmöser, Klein Kreutz and Göttin worked together. They used the ELW1, two turntable ladders, four groups of fire-fighting group vehicles and three water tenders. Additional helpers included ambulance crews, the police as well as a supply train from the Johanniter Unfallhilfe.