Roof structure fire in Winterhude: Fire brigade saves residents without any injuries!

Roof structure fire in Winterhude: Fire brigade saves residents without any injuries!

On the evening of December 29, 2025, the Hamburg fire department was called to a roof structure fire on Wagnerstrasse in Winterhude. At around 5:30 p.m., two fire engines from the professional fire department and the volunteer fire department arrived at the scene. An initial situation report showed that a ten-meter-long fire was raging in the roof structure of an apartment building. The emergency services were well positioned and were able to act quickly with two turntable ladders from the outside and an inside attack with a jet pipe. The fire was therefore successfully prevented from spreading to adjacent buildings, as reported by Hamburg Fire Department.

As is often the case with such operations, the aim was to bring the affected residents to safety. A total of eight people were looked after by the emergency services and placed in a nearby HVV bus. Fortunately, there were no injuries in this incident. The fire was extinguished at 6:28 p.m. and follow-up work was then initiated, with ventilation measures and post-extinguishing work on the agenda.

A look at the emergency services

The fire department's emergency services were supported by several volunteer fire departments from Winterhude, Eppendorf and Wandsbek-Marienthal. The latter was on site with an equipment truck for the fire service (GW-FM) and even used a drone to observe the fire from above, but left the scene after just 15 minutes. The Eppendorf Volunteer Fire Department took on the important task of opening the roof skin in order to better access the embers.

The professional hands of firefighters are indispensable in Germany. At the end of 2022, there were around 48,100 fire departments in the country, with volunteer fire departments making up the majority and having over a million members. According to Statista, the fire brigade responded to around 229,000 fires and explosions in 2022 - and the trend is rising. This shows how important the work of the fire department is, not only in Hamburg, but throughout Germany.

Comparison to more recent operations

The fire department in Winterhude experienced another day of operations on December 5, 2024, when they were called to an unclear smoke development in an apartment building on Mexicoring. Fire engines from the professional and volunteer fire departments were also deployed here. The origin of the smoke development was located in the building's underground car park. Difficult firefighting led the incident commander to raise the alarm level to second level and alert several additional support personnel. Another 50 people had to be evacuated from their homes, with one person being taken to the clinic with minor injuries. This shows that the challenges for the fire department do not end in a single evening, but are becoming increasingly complex.

The fire brigade's protective and rescue task is indispensable. Even though operations like the one in Winterhude are often routine, there is a lot of work and commitment behind them to ensure the safety of citizens. These services are not only a challenge, but also an expression of the community spirit in Hamburg.

The scene following the roof structure fire was finally handed over to the police in order to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire. An important piece of the puzzle to clarify the causes of such incidents and, if necessary, take preventative measures.