Bolzano – A factory and warehouse of a company in the Bozner Boden craftsmen’s zone in the South Tyrolean state capital of Bolzano caught fire on Wednesday morning for a yet unknown cause. A large cloud of black smoke could be seen in pictures. Several buildings around the hall, including a high school, had to be evacuated for safety reasons.
The area was cordoned off over a large area. The column of smoke was visible far across the city. It was a roof structure fire on a construction site.
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The fire broke out in Mitterweg in the craftsmen’s zone on Bozner Boden. There are several warehouses there.
An Alpitronic building was affected.
Flames rose several meters into the air. The fire broke out on Wednesday morning around 9:00 a.m.
The fire occurred here on the map.
Google Maps
The fire department was also on duty.
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Extinguishing work is currently underway. The emergency services slowly gained the upper hand over the situation around 10 a.m. The Bozen professional fire department and the Bozen-Stadt, Gries and Oberau-Haslach volunteer fire departments are on duty and have brought the fire under control.
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No injuries have been reported so far. Nevertheless, the emergency ambulance was dispatched. The financial police have blocked off an access road to traffic. Employees of the affected company Alpitronic, a development company for power electronics, were not in the building.
The company has been a global market leader in the production of fast charging stations for electric cars since 2017. The hall was out of use for renovation work and was empty. Neither batteries nor charging stations caught fire. According to an initial assumption, flying sparks could have occurred during welding work or when cutting with the Flex.
The fire spread quickly. Insulating material also apparently caught fire. State governor and civil protection councilor Arno Kompatscher is currently getting an idea of the situation with state councilor Luis Walcher, the deputy mayor of the municipality of Bozen Stephan Konder and civil protection councilor Johanna Ramoser. PD Senator and Bolzano’s former mayor Luigi Spagnolli expressed his condolences in a press release.
The images of black and dense clouds of smoke have caused astonishment and concern in the city. The smell of burning is in the air in many urban areas. Even at Waltherplatz there was still a smell of burnt plastic around 11 a.m.
Civil defense recommended keeping windows and doors closed and turning off air conditioning and ventilation systems. This is especially true for the low mountain ranges around Bolzano, Jenesien, Ritten and Kohlern, because the smoke is currently spreading at this altitude.
Due to the current weather conditions, the cloud of smoke is rising vertically and therefore does not pose an immediate danger, the country initially said. The smoke then spread around 11:20 a.m., especially in the Bolzano area. The recommendation also applies to the coming hours.
The all-clear was given when it came to toxic gases: no batteries or chemicals were affected. To be on the safe side, the professional fire brigade and the State Agency for the Environment and Climate Protection were in the process of taking samples and examining them for possible residues in order to be able to give the all-clear.
The population is also informed about a civil protection notification from the Civil Protection Agency.
From: mk