A fire broke out on Friday night at a refugee shelter in Dortmund, located in western Germany. The city’s fire department reported the incident.
According to the press release, around 2:45 AM, firefighters were called to the Brünnighausen area. The fire started in one of the rooms on the first floor of the building. The shelter has a capacity of up to 225 people, so several fire trucks and ambulances quickly arrived at the scene. Before their arrival, staff and residents attempted to extinguish the fire using fire extinguishers. Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control.
As a result of the incident, three people were injured and taken to the hospital with suspected poisoning from smoke inhalation. Residents of the affected part of the shelter were temporarily relocated to other buildings. The police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Earlier incidents related to fires in refugee shelters have also occurred in Germany. In November, another fire damaged a shelter in North Rhine-Westphalia, injuring at least 20 people. In that case, the police arrested a resident of the shelter on suspicion of arson. Additionally, in the city of Aalen, near Stuttgart, a Ukrainian refugee was arrested for attempting to set fire to a dormitory, causing an estimated 200,000 euros in damage.
