A MAJOR fire at a power plant in Germany’s Franconia region has prompted the city of Nuremberg to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday, February 9.
The fire broke out and spread to a height of at least 80 metres before being quickly managed by 120 firefighters on Monday (February 8) afternoon, who extinguished the fire in around two hours. However, the plant is on temporary shutdown. There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire.
The power plant normally supplies the districts of Röthenbach and Gebersdorf with district heating and hot water – 1,150 connection points for district heating in the affected districts. In addition to households; large companies, a clinic, schools, a shopping centre and two nursing homes and care facilities are also affected.
The city and power supply company N-Ergie has set up a crisis management headquarters and has asked the residents of Nuremberg to use heating and hot water sparingly – N-Ergie is currently trying to find mobile heating for those affected.
The district heating supply for around 15,000 people cannot be absorbed by the power plant in the Sandreuth district given the current low temperatures, according to N-Ergie.
The low temperatures lead to a bottleneck in the district heating supply and the situation could get even more serious as the German Weather Service in Nuremberg predicts lows of up to minus 16 degrees.