The volunteer fire department of Bad Staffelstein conducted a hazardous materials emergency exercise at MOLL Batterien GmbH on July 17, 2023. The fire department was alerted due to a activated manual alarm button in the acid storage facility.
On site, the emergency responders faced the following situation: The factory premises had already been properly evacuated by MOLL Batterien, and during the exercise, three "missing persons" were reported who were last seen in the acid storage facility. Leaking acid was also detected.
The location provided ideal training conditions for the fire department, which is part of the ABC disposal group of the Lichtenfels district. An area was set up for decontamination of the "injured" and deployed personnel. Additionally, emergency responders equipped themselves with chemical protection suits (CPS) to enter the acid storage facility to rescue the missing persons from the danger zone and contain the acid leak. Afterwards, the damage site was cleared of hazardous materials and measured for safety.
The emergency responders were sweating considerably in the sunshine and warm temperatures while wearing breathing protection and CPS. Fortunately, the situation encountered was only an exercise, and no persons were harmed. The exercise was conducted with appropriate training dummies.
Around 8:00 PM, the emergency exercise ended with the restoration of operational readiness of all vehicles, and work at MOLL resumed. As a thank you for the successful exercise, MOLL Batterien provided refreshments and snacks for the fire department afterward.
The safety of employees and residents is very important to MOLL Batterien's management. The successful exercise showed that internal procedures at MOLL are effective, and the Bad Staffelstein fire department is also well prepared for emergencies.