Many days after the explosion in that malt silo in Rheindürkheim (Germany) that killed a Firefighter in the Line of Duty, his remains have finally been recovered as of late Thursday. Special forces of a demolition company drilled a hole in the wall of the silo and secured the damaged concrete ceiling from the danger of collapse. A team of high angle rescue firefighters from Mannheim Fire Brigade recovered his body which was lying under concrete debris. Other Firefighters remain in the hospital.
In the case of many Firefighter LODD’s here and abroad, the questions are being asked at various levels specifically in Germany if the LODD could have been avoided? The media is covering comments from the public as well as German Firefighting experts as far as why the firefighters entered the silo despite the high danger of explosion. There is a known history of the problems with fires in the malt silos, including the predictability of explosions. One theory is that vaporized water for the firefighting caused such a high pressure within the silo that the outer wall of the silo was blown up. The LODD is under investigation of the district prosecutor of Mainz.
