Batteries Cause Fire at Recycling Yard – 90 Firefighters in Action for Hours

After the major fire at a recycling yard in Gundersheim, evidence is mounting that the cause was related to disposal. Investigators believe, after reviewing video footage, that improperly disposed batteries may have triggered the fire.

The fire broke out on Saturday afternoon around 4 p.m. at a covered storage area of a waste management company in Gundersheim in the Alzey-Worms district. Electronic waste, paper, and cardboard burned. The post-extinguishing work lasted until Sunday morning; at times, 90 emergency personnel from across the district were on site. No one was injured.

Investigators Rule Out Arson

The Worms criminal police have reviewed the recycling yard's video recordings. According to current findings, the fire started without human intervention. Thus, investigators are focusing away from intentional arson and towards a technical or disposal-related cause.

It is considered likely that incorrectly disposed batteries triggered the fire. In recycling and waste streams, they are particularly risky because damaged energy storage devices – for example, due to pressure, breakage, or friction during shifting – can react unnoticed and ignite. Such fires develop quickly in mixed waste piles because they spread to easily flammable materials like paper and cardboard and repeatedly flare up.

The police remind in this context that batteries and accumulators do not belong in household or recyclable waste. If they are damaged, they can cause fires and thus endanger employees and emergency personnel.

Extinguishing Work Lasted Until Sunday Morning

Employees of the company noticed the fire in the covered storage area and alerted the fire department. When the first teams arrived, the situation quickly escalated; additional units were quickly called in. "It was immediately clear that the fire would continue to spread," said Marius Deuster from the Alzey-Worms Fire and Disaster Protection.

The extinguishing work proved to be laborious. Cardboard had to be pulled outside and repeatedly rearranged there to find and extinguish embers. Only with a special extinguishing agent could the repeatedly flaring fire spots finally be smothered. The post-extinguishing work ended on Sunday around 8 a.m., and around 10:30 a.m. the fire department handed the site over to the operator.

At the beginning of the fire, a column of smoke visible for kilometers stood over the industrial area. The smoke was blown towards the A61; therefore, the authorities issued a Katwarn alert.

Other Fires in the Region Remain an Open Issue

The fire in Gundersheim is not the only incident of this kind in the region. Already on Friday, there was a fire at another location of the same company in Welgesheim: There, a large pile of commercial waste caught fire, and around 80 emergency personnel were in action for hours. The operators also suspect in this case that incorrectly disposed batteries may have played a role. In their assessment, the batteries could have been damaged under pressure and ignited.

Additionally, on Saturday afternoon there was another fire at a waste management facility in Worms, just a few kilometers from Gundersheim. The fire broke out there around 2 p.m. and could be quickly extinguished. There had already been fires on the premises before; at the end of April, 200 tons of construction debris, paper, and other waste caught fire there, and at the end of May, construction debris and paper ignited again.

The fact that fires are occurring in quick succession at recycling and waste management sites increases the economic and operational burden for companies and fire departments – from business interruptions to lengthy post-extinguishing work, during which material must be moved, checked, and secured. However, a reliable connection between the individual cases has not been established according to current knowledge. Investigations are ongoing.

The case in Gundersheim highlights above all one thing: Improperly disposed batteries are a significant risk for waste management companies – and for emergency personnel, a factor that makes fires more complex and protracted. Whether the recent incidents in Gundersheim, Welgesheim, and Worms are connected remains unclear.