The police and fire brigade had looked to the turn of the year with some concern given the need for many people to catch up when firecrackers were fired. The emergency services did a good job.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – After two new years under corona conditions, people in Thuringia celebrated the new year with plenty of fireworks – and the police, fire brigade and city cleaning departments did a lot of work. The state operations center announced on Sunday that 88 fires in connection with fireworks alone had been recorded until the early hours of New Year’s Day.
About 60 violations in the use of pyrotechnics and 36 damage to property by firecrackers were reported. For two men aged 21 and 42, the New Year’s Eve fireworks ended with serious injuries.
In Friemar (Gotha district), a 42-year-old was so seriously injured when handling firecrackers ordered from the Internet that both his forearms were amputated, as a police spokesman said early Sunday morning. In Schleiz-Crispendorf (Saale-Orla district), a 21-year-old lost his hand in an accident involving an explosive device. The illegal ball bomb exploded as soon as it was ignited, the police said. According to the police, the injured are not in mortal danger.
40 cars were damaged in a car dealership in Erfurt on New Year’s Eve. According to the police, property damage was estimated at 200,000 euros, and nobody was injured. The flames had spread from a burning hedge to the company premises, said a police spokesman. It was initially unclear whether the hedge was set on fire by firecrackers. In Thuringia there were several hedge and limited meadow fires caused by New Year’s Eve rockets.
In Jena, an unknown perpetrator set fire to a battery of fireworks in the hallway of a house, which the fire brigade quickly put out. According to the information, no one was injured.
In addition, the police registered almost 50 cases of physical injury, often in connection with a high alcohol level. In Erfurt, for example, knives and a blank pistol were used in individual cases.
The police had expected many operations in the run-up to the turn of the year. Because of the mild outside temperatures, many people were out and about in a party mood, it said. Most would have celebrated peacefully.
