It was to be a major exercise, in the end 260 firefighters from all over the district fought against a full-blown large fire: The VIVO fire of 1996 is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Memories of a memorable parish fair on Saturday.
Warngau
- Exactly 25 years ago, on October 19, 1996, a failed smoke simulation on the VIVO site near Lochham (Warngau municipality) caused a sea of flames. A warehouse, full of recyclables, burned down completely. The damage ran into the millions.
The greatest concern of the rescue workers on this memorable church festival Saturday was the black, stinking cloud of smoke that the wind spread over 30 kilometers in the Oberland.
District fire chief Anton Riblinger, then district fire chief, remembers how a toxicologist from the Munich hospital rushed to the right of the Isar to examine the smoke for toxic fumes.
The expert finally gave the all-clear.
“As a fire brigade, we now have our own options for quickly measuring smoke for toxins,” says Riblinger.
The fire brigades Weyarn, Hausham and Tegernsee are specially equipped and trained for this.
The staging had become bitterly serious
It was piquant that an active member of the Munich professional fire brigade started the fire, albeit unintentionally.
Smoke powder was supposed to simulate a fire in said hall, instead around 400 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic and light metals ignited.
When the local defenses arrived, the staging had become bitterly serious.
The flames hit house high, as the Holzkirchen Mercury reported at the time.
“The hall could no longer be saved,” recalls Riblinger.
A muddy cistern made it difficult to replenish the fire fighting water.
75 respiratory protection wearers under the command of the then district fire council and head of operations Michael Röhrl did the hard work.
Extinguishing foam on the floor, thick smoke and 878 balls of recyclable material burning brightly all mixed up in a bizarre scenario.
“Compared to then, our equipment has improved significantly,” says Riblinger.
Significantly more fire fighting vehicles enable faster access.
The equipment of the respiratory protection wearer has become lighter.
And every weir has thermal imaging cameras to localize embers.
There were no injuries 25 years ago, but there was a saying from an onlooker, which the reporter at the time diligently noted: "This means that the Miesbach district has probably also started waste incineration."
