Status: 24.11.2023, 05:14 a.m.
By: Daniel Schröder
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The truck was on fire on the A44 in North Rhine-Westphalia. © Kai Weets/Soest Fire Brigade
A truck caught fire on the A44 near Soest on Thursday evening. The highway is closed. The fire brigade catered to motorists in traffic jams.
Soest - On the A44 between Soest and Werl, a truck trailer was on fire on Thursday evening. The Soest fire brigade quickly got the fire under control. Nevertheless, the motorway will have to remain closed for a long time. Late in the evening, the fire department said that the closure was likely to last into the night.
At around 18.30 p.m., the Soest fire brigade was called to the A44 motorway between Soest and Werl. Around the height of Ampen, a truck trailer had burst into flames. As Kai Weets, spokesman for the Soest fire department, explains, paints and varnishes were loaded on the trailer.
The fire brigade quickly had the fire under control, but paints and varnishes were loaded on the trailer. © Kai Weets/Soest Fire Brigade
Firefighters extinguish fire on highway under heavy breathing protection
Several crews extinguished the fire under heavy breathing protection. They quickly brought the flames under control. The Soest forces were supported by the Möhnesee and Anröchte fire brigades, who also arrived with large tank fire engines to get sufficient extinguishing water onto the motorway.
"The fire was under control very quickly," reports fire department spokesman Weets. After extinguishing the fire, the emergency services cleaned the roadway to allow the backlogged traffic to flow away. Drivers were sometimes stuck in traffic jams for hours due to the full closure due to the operation. Weets: "In the front area of the traffic jam, we were able to supply water to those affected - mainly those who had children on board. In addition, there were those affected who were in urgent need of medication and therefore had to go home quickly."
Truck fire on the A44: Fire brigade has to deal with unclear situation
Weets emphasized that the fire brigade had wanted to make it possible for traffic to flow away as quickly as possible: "There was also the consideration of letting the traffic roll earlier. However, for a long time there was an unclear situation as to the danger posed by the burning paints and varnishes." The driver of the truck only spoke Ukrainian and could not give any clear information about the load: "We made do with translation apps. At first, we only knew that the trailer was loaded with paints and varnishes," says Weets.
The problem is that if these substances catch fire, hydrogen cyanide is formed, which is dispersed in the fire smoke. "We had to assume the worst-case scenario and therefore left the motorway closed for safety reasons." Traffic was diverted at the Soest/Möhnesee junction. However, those who had already driven past it and were stuck between the scene and the exit had to wait.
"We covered all the combustible material with foam to stop the spread of smoke," Weets explained. In the later course of the operation, it turned out that the trailer had loaded "only very small quantities" of paints and varnishes. With this certainty, the road could then be opened for a short time for those waiting.
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