Penzlin (dpa/mv) – According to the police, the cause of the fire in a wood-fired power plant in Penzlin (Mecklenburg Lake District), which caused millions in damage on Friday, has been clarified. As a police spokeswoman said on Monday, according to the fire expert, wood dust probably ignited in the woodchip store of the power plant. The fire was caused by a wood dust explosion and first broke out in an approximately 30 meter long warehouse, in which a telescopic loader was also located. The flames spread to a second hall next to it.

Control technology and other machines for generating bioenergy were destroyed in this machine hall. The total damage was estimated at two million euros. Nobody got hurt. The apartments in Penzlin’s multi-family houses that are dependent on the thermal power station are now supplied via a reserve oil heating system.

A similar fire broke out on the same site in 2017. Back then, too, wood dust suddenly ignited. After the fire at that time, the damage from which was estimated at more than one million euros, the bioenergy plant was rebuilt.