Fire in recycling: CHF 50,000 harm, but no injuries!

Fire in recycling: CHF 50,000 harm, but no injuries!

On May 20, 2025, shortly after 5:30 p.m. there was a fire in the hall of a recycling company in the canton of St. Gallen. The cause of the fire is currently unclear, but the fire in the area of ​​residual waste began and spread to stored recycling material and a tent blade roof. Fortunately, no people were injured in the incident. This reports VOL.AT.

Around 50 members of the local fire brigade and the St. Gallen cantonal police were deployed. The fire brigade was able to quickly control the flames inside the hall and on the outer shell. Despite the strong smoke development during the operation, the property damage was around 50,000 francs. The emergency services were alerted for precautionary reasons, but was not used.

previous incidents in recycling business

A similar incident occurred on March 11, 2025 when a fire broke out in the same recycling operation. This was caused by the expires of an unknown liquid from a disposed barrel. An employee had checked the flammability of the liquid, which led to a fire. At this event, the property damage was significantly higher with around CHF 100,000. Even then, the fire brigade quickly became active and brought the fire under control without injuries. The emergency services also included around 50 members of the fire brigade and the cantonal police, such as [sg.ch] (https://www.sg.ch/news/sgch_kantonpolizei/2025/03/altaetten-brand-in-recycling company.

The analysis of fire events shows that the likelihood of fires in recycling companies is often increased by various materials that are stored there. For this purpose, the [Feuertrutz] (https://www.feuertrutz.de/statistiken- fire protection) offers some insights into the causes of fire and statistics. A comprehensive collection of data could help to further increase security in such companies and to avoid future incidents.