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A fire burned down a newly constructed, state-of-the art firehouse costing tens of millions of dollars because it wasn't equipped with fire alarms, the Guardian reports.
The fire department in the German town of Stadtallendorf was destroyed Wednesday (October 16) less than a year after it was unveiled. The fire reportedly started in a vehicle and quickly spread to the whole building, with an estimated 170 firefighters, including members of the local volunteer fire brigade, battling the blaze.
No injuries were reported, however, 10 fire engines were destroyed in the incident.
“It is a nightmare for a firefighter. No one wants to have to extinguish his own fire station,” said Lars Schäfer, the district fire inspector, via German media, acknowledging that the cost of damage was estimated to range between €20 million ($21.72 USD) and €24 million ($26.07 USD).
The facility was heralded as "modern, innovative and state-of-the art" upon its opening, however, was not legally required to have a fire alarm as it belonged to the local municipality and classified as be a building designated to hold equipment, rather than a fire station. A spokesperson for the municipality claimed that a fire protection wall prohibited flames from spreading to a separate wing of the building.
The official cause of the fire has not yet been determined, though it is speculated to have stemmed from a battery charger possibly overheating.