Major fire: no ammonia leaked – salzburg.ORF.at
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On Sunday night, a major fire broke out in Bergheim (Flachgau) in the Alpenrind company, the former slaughterhouse. Since 2:00 a.m., 120 firefighters have been extinguishing the flames. Dangerous ammonia gas threatened to escape from several cooling systems, but measurements then showed that no irritant gas had escaped.
The company premises in Bergheim have been cordoned off extensively since the night, a dense cloud of smoke and flames could still be seen from afar on Sunday morning. At around 6:00 a.m., it appeared that the emergency services could bring the fire under control. But then the flames and heat damaged the slaughterhouse’s large cooling system, which was laced with the irritant gas ammonia.
Measurements show: no ammonia escaped
The dangerous gas threatened to escape and the fire flared up again. The 120 emergency services were able to prevent the feared escape of toxic ammonia from the cooling system on the roof for the time being – this was confirmed in the morning by the first measurement results. “The major fire is a special case, because the cooling system with ammonia is in direct danger of the fire area. Ammonia is a health hazard – in the fire area we are therefore taking measurements to see how the situation is developing,” said the head of the district administration of the city of Salzburg, Michael Haybäck.
Roof is cut open
The 60 by 100 meter roof is cut open by the emergency services with tongs in order to reach a nest of embers underneath. “We are still in the process of specifically cooling the cooling fans, which are operated with ammonia, with hand-held extinguishing pipes. In this way, we were able to prevent the toxic irritant gas, which is also flammable, from escaping,” says fire director Reinhold Ortler. The three systems contain around 120 kilograms of liquefied ammonia.
Residents informed via loudspeaker
In the morning, the surrounding residents were closed as a precaution by loudspeaker announcement to keep their windows and doors open. There was also a warning on ORF radio. At around 8:00 a.m., this request was still in effect for the Muntigl district of Bergheim and for residents within a radius of one kilometer. The smoke from the scene of the fire moved north on Sunday morning.
Roof of the slaughterhouse in danger of collapsing
For the approximately 120 firefighters, the operation is dangerous, they have to be extremely careful, and the situation is constantly being investigated. Since 2:00 a.m. they have been fighting the strong flames in the warehouse, and there is a danger of the roof of the slaughterhouse collapsing. The operation will take hours.
Firefighting work on the roof of the slaughterhouse