100 tonnes of fire load, 1.5 million m³ of smoke gas.
The incident in Munderloh shows why firefighter protection must continue after the flames have been extinguished.
On May 16, 2025, a major fire broke out at an auto salvage and recycling facility in the Munderloh industrial park in the municipality of Hatten, Germany. The Oldenburg District Fire Department has kindly provided a presentation with detailed operational data.
This fire is a strong example of an issue that is becoming increasingly important in the fire service: smoke gases, hazardous substances, contaminated equipment, incident hygiene and follow-up costs after firefighting operations.
What happened?
The fire broke out at around 10:00 p.m. When the first crews arrived, several vehicles were already fully involved in flames. The fire quickly spread to stored scrap material and advanced deep into the site.
The smoke column was visible as far away as Bremen. Due to smoke development and falling ash, the public was warned via MoWaS, Cell Broadcast and loudspeaker vehicles. A damaged telecommunications mast on the site threatened to fall onto the nearby motorway and caused restrictions in the mobile network.
The internal incident overview lists a total of 885 emergency responders and 158 vehicles deployed for the firefighting operation.
Smoke, hazardous substances and extinguishing water
In its excellent post-incident review, the District Fire Service of the Landkreis Oldenburg estimates around 400 passenger cars on an area of 11,000 m², with 200 to 250 kg of combustible material per vehicle. This corresponds to roughly 100 tonnes of combustible material. The calculated total fire load was 3,200 to 4,000 gigajoules, roughly equivalent to the energy content of 125,000 litres of petrol.
For smoke gas production, the presentation assumes 10 to 15 m³ of smoke gas per kg of fuel. Based on 100 tonnes of fuel, this results in approximately 1.3 to 1.5 million m³ of smoke gas. For comparison, this is equivalent to the volume of around 26 to 30 large industrial halls measuring 100 × 50 × 10 metres.
Even more relevant are the estimated quantities of hazardous contaminants. They illustrate the scale of chemical exposure faced by emergency responders and their equipment:
|
Carbon dioxide CO₂₂ |
280 to 300 tonnes |
Indicates the enormous scale of combustion |
|
Carbon monoxide CO |
8 to 10 tonnes |
Highly toxic, blocks oxygen uptake in the blood |
|
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) |
8 to 10 tonnes |
Irritating, toxic or carcinogenic |
|
Soot / fine particulate matter |
3 to 5 tonnes |
Critical because pollutants adhere to particles and particles adhere to surfaces |
|
Hydrogen chloride (HCl) |
1.5 to 2.5 tonnes |
Formed, for example, from PVC components - forms hydrochloric acid with moisture and has irritating and corrosive effects |
|
Highly toxic heavy metals, PAHs, dioxins and furans |
Kilogram range |
Particularly relevant from a toxicological perspective. PAHs in particular are considered carcinogenic |
The demand for firefighting water was also enormous. Resources used included 2 large-capacity water tenders (GTF), each carrying approx. 10,000 litres, 4 firefighting tankers (TLF), each carrying approx. 4,000 litres, and 6 agricultural transport vehicles. Up to 8,000 litres per minute were pumped, with the estimated total water consumption amounting to 16,000 m³ - equivalent to 1,600 GTF loads.
What Remains After the Fire: PPE, Equipment and Costs
Once the fire has been extinguished, cleaning, inspection, withdrawal from service and replacement begin. This is particularly evident in the case of personal protective equipment: According to the presentation, the immediate follow-up costs for PPE cleaning and replacement alone amounted to €52,000 - including €10,000 for cleaning and €42,000 for replacement. In addition, withdrawn hoses accounted for €16,000, equipment such as branches/nozzles and pike poles for €9,500, BA servicing for €5,000 and external vehicle cleaning for €15,000. It is unclear whether the vehicles were decontaminated internally. Together, this adds up to €97,500 - excluding the costs of foam concentrate, operational hours, long-term health costs and organisational downtime.
Which equipment could have been preserved through additional decontamination cannot be calculated precisely in retrospect. What is clear, however: given the documented massive exposure to hazardous contaminants and €52,000 for PPE cleaning and replacement alone, there is a strong case for investing in dedicated decontamination technology - as an investment in lower follow-up costs, greater operational independence and better long-term protection for firefighters.
The firefighters in Munderloh worked under extreme danger and heavy exposure to smoke gases. Those who put their health at such risk for others have every right to expect the same level of seriousness when it comes to investing in their own long-term protection.
Sources / further information (in German):
- District Fire Service Oldenburg - Initial report on the large-scale fire at the scrap yard in Hatten/Munderloh
https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/172811/6036093 - District Fire Service Oldenburg - 07:00 update
https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/172811/6036116 - District Fire Service Oldenburg - Final report on the large-scale fire
https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/172811/6036660 - Police Delmenhorst / Oldenburg-Land / Wesermarsch - Large-scale fire at recycling company, A28, telecommunications mast
https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/68438/6037519 - Police Delmenhorst / Oldenburg-Land / Wesermarsch - Damage amounting to several million euros
https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/68438/6045216 - Municipality of Hatten - Information on the fire in the municipality of Hatten
https://hatten.de/rathaus-politik/aktuelles?article=384 - DLRG Wildeshausen - Support for the fire service during the large-scale fire / public warning
https://wildeshausen.dlrg.de/einsatztagebuch/unterstuetzung-feuerwehr-bei-grossbrand-52200-e/ - Hude Fire Brigade - Recycling yard on fire
https://www.feuerwehr-hude.de/2025/05/17/recycling-hof-brennt/