Major fire in Basel: no toxins in the smoke – News Basel: City



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A former timber warehouse in Flammen was flooded on Friday in the port of Basel. Shortly after 2 pm, the fire of discarded railroad ties was noticed, which was piled on the Westquai not far from the open border triangle. A column of black smoke was visible all around.

A spokesman for the logistics company Rhenus Alpina, whose daughter Rhenus Port Logistics was affected by the fire, confirmed the location of the fire. The cause is unknown. Nobody was hurt. There were about 2,000 tonnes of railway sleepers and about the same amount of scrap stored nearby.

Police were in the neighborhood with loudspeakers on the way to warn the public of toxic smoke. Windows must be closed and ventilation must be shut off. Journalists and onlookers have left the fire zone with rags in front of their mouths to protect themselves from the smoke and stench, as reported by the baz.ch/Newsnet reporter at the scene of the fire. ;fire. Swimming in the Rhine is currently to be avoided in Basel

In an interview with 20min.ch , media spokesman René Gsell of the Basel-City Prosecutor's Office said at 4 pm that the danger potential was being clarified by firefighters. A threat can not be excluded yet. That the fire is already under control, Gsell could not say it.


René Gsell of the Basle-City Prosecutor in an interview. (Video: 20 minutes)

At 5:20 pm, the prosecutor took everything off. No toxic substances were measured in the smoke, as reported by firefighters. There was no danger to the population. The forces had mastered the fire

Grain Silos in Danger

The column of smoke was visible throughout the city. The fire department had to prevent the spread of flames. In addition to the professional firefighters and militiamen from Basel, those from the nearby German city of Weil am Rhein were also in action. The Basel tanker has one of its rare missions

Two steps away from the scene of the fire, there are two silos where, among other things, the grain is stored. "The biggest danger is the huge adjacent grain silos," said Rhenus spokeswoman Claudia Bracher, opposite the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung. "The fire department does not seem to overfire, but fortunately the fire department was alerted immediately, with about 10 employees on hand." [19659003] Video: Column of smoke on Basel


Railway ties treated with tar oil caught fire on the Rhine port in Basel (Video: Nicolas Wyss) [19659024] The Sandoase Beach Bar, located at the border triangle right next to the waste disposal site, was cleaned and guests were brought to the city by boats from Basler Personenschiffahrt, writes barfi.ch. No one was allowed to drive.

Carcinogenic pollutant emissions

Railway ties captured by fire are collected by Rhenus AG in Kleinhüningen. as reported the week of June, they will be transported to Germany to be el Sleepers are loaded with toxic tar oil, which has a carcinogenic effect and can affect fertility.

Working with sleepers causes a lot of dust, according to the weekly. However, Rhenus AG did not want to know how dangerous it was. The company has repeatedly promised to liquidate the depot in Basel. Formerly popular as a garden shed, in Switzerland since 2001, old tar-impregnated wooden sleepers can no longer be used in the settlement area because of partially carcinogenic emissions of pollutants. They must be incinerated in a waste incineration plant or in a cement plant.

According to earlier information from the Swiss Confederation, since 1998 SBB has only been using wooden sleepers with less polluting impregnation. However, old sleepers still accumulate during renovations. The lifespan of wooden sleepers is estimated at around 25 years, which means that until 2023, there are still some old toxic thresholds in circulation. (anf / sda)

created: 27.07.2018, 14:49

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