City gives the all-clear

“Minor environmental damage” after Maco fire

The Maco hall was severely damaged by the fire.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

A few days after the major fire at the Salzburg fittings manufacturer Maco, the city has now given the "all-clear for the time being", as stated in a press release: "Initial findings indicate minor environmental damage caused by leaked hydrochloric and nitric acid."

For twelve hours last Friday night, 125 firefighters from the Salzburg City Fire Department battled the flames shooting out of a Maco production hall. Six people, including three firefighters, were injured. As reported, more than 60,000 liters of acid escaped in the course of the fire, which also mixed with extinguishing water.

Now, after the initial findings, the city explains in a press release: "Most of it ended up in the dense cellar." According to Maximilian Schnabl from the municipal plant authority, "the design of the basement as a watertight tank with 30-centimeter-thick walls held up". According to Schnabl, the basement was also designed as a tank for such an incident. In addition, the rapid extraction of the leaked acid by a specialist company minimized the environmental damage. 

Only an expert opinion can provide certainty
However, it is not yet clear whether the groundwater or the surrounding soil has been contaminated. According to the city, the Maco company must commission a geotechnical investigation with soil samples from an external civil engineering office. "Certainty about the extent of damage caused by possible contamination of the surrounding soil and groundwater can only be provided by the geotechnical report," it says. 

The city was able to rule out one thing: "So far, nothing has leaked into the Salzach," it says. The hall construction is also not as badly affected as it initially appeared. In any case, there is no longer any danger of collapse.

The police have already been able to clarify the cause of the fire: It was "technical causes in the area of an electrolytic cleaning basin" that triggered the fire. There is no information yet on the extent of the material damage.