A brand new German fire station that burned down did not have a fire alarm system

BERLIN (AP) — A new fire station in central Germany, which was destroyed in a fire, causing millions of euros in damage and destroyed equipment did not have a fire alarm system, local media reported Thursday.

The fire broke out early Wednesday morning at the Stadtallendorf fire station in Hesse and destroyed, among other things, the equipment hall and almost a dozen emergency vehicles, German news agency dpa reported. Initial estimates put the damage at between 20 million and 24 million euros ($21 million to $26 million). No one was injured.

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

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

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, told dpa.

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.