Following the major fire at a joinery in Ellerau experts inspected the stability of the damaged building on 11 November 2026. After several hours of work, the fire service declared the fire extinguished early that morning and handed the scene over to police. Part of the building's roof collapsed during firefighting operations. No one was injured, according to the fire service.
The fire broke out on the evening of 10 November at the woodworking business in Segeberg district Schleswig-Holstein. According to the Segeberg District Fire Service Association's incident report, the first calls reported heavy smoke. When the first crews arrived, smoke was visible inside and outside the building. The cause and extent of the damage were initially unknown.
At 5.27 pm, the control centre initially called out the fire services from Ellerau and Alveslohe. As the scale of the operation became clear, further units were called in. According to the district fire brigade association, around 120 emergency responders were involved in total. Fire brigades from neighbouring Pinneberg district also attended, among other things to provide additional personnel and breathing apparatus.
Initially, teams wearing breathing apparatus searched the building for the source of the fire. At the same time, emergency crews protected a neighbouring business premises from the flames. According to the fire brigade, this building remained protected throughout the operation.
About half an hour after the alarm was raised, the teams had to abandon their work inside. The fire brigade said the blaze had suddenly spread through the building and parts of it had collapsed. Crews then tackled the fire from outside, using turntable ladders as well as hose lines.
The heavy smoke prompted the incident commanders to use the modular warning system to tell residents to keep their windows and doors closed. The water supply also presented difficulties at first. The fire brigade said it ultimately used both the hydrant network and an open water source about 600 metres away.
Because the fire had badly damaged the building’s structure, a construction expert from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief and an excavator were called in. Crews used the excavator to remove parts of the building so they could reach any remaining hotspots. A drone from the fire brigade in Quickborn also provided the incident commanders with aerial images to help plan their next steps.
Firefighting continued until the morning of 11 November. At 5.39am, the fire brigade reported that the fire had been extinguished. Twelve people at the scene were supported by the Malteser emergency response team; the German Red Cross helped provide supplies to emergency crews. The cause of the fire remains to be established.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).