05.10.2015

Crane fire in Germany

A four axle All Terrain crane - pulling a two axle counterweight trailer - caught fire near Bremerhaven, Germany, early on Friday morning, causing an explosion and damage to the road surface.
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The fire took hold quickly

The 90 tonne crane was travelling north in the A27 autobahn towards Cuxhaven and was between junction nine and junction eight, when the driver spotted a technical fault with the braking system. He quickly pulled over but the crane was already burning and the fire spreading rapidly. He sensibly got out of his cab and moved to safety just as a tyre exploded, with the burning debris flying across the road to the other carriageway.
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A substantial amount of damage occurred before the fire was extinguished

Shortly afterwards one of the tanks exploded and the crane dumped around 600 litres of hydraulic oil in the road. Firefighers were able to bring the blaze under control but not before substantial damage had occurred. The road was closed for some time.
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The clean up took most of the day