On May 3, 2025, at around 5:30 p.m., a severe thunderstorm struck the city of Mainz and the surrounding counties. The command center had already been reinforced in advance with off-duty personnel to prepare for an increased volume of calls.

A lightning strike caused a shed fire in Gau-Algesheim. A garden shed caught fire in Alzey. In Schwabenheim, emergency crews secured ceiling panels that had become loose due to water ingress. Fallen trees in Gau-Algesheim and Bad Kreuznach led to disruptions in rail traffic.

At all other incident sites, fire departments were called to fallen branches, fallen trees, water ingress into buildings, and standing water in low-lying areas of the road.

In total, fire departments responded to 26 incidents in the Rheinhessen region covered by the Mainz Integrated Control Center. Of these, four were in the city of Mainz, 19 in the Mainz-Bingen district, and three in the Alzey-Worms district.

No one was injured as a result of the weather event. The warning apps had issued early alerts about the severe thunderstorm.

In this context, we would like to emphasize how important it is to stay informed through the media and to use warning apps.

On Wednesday, from the start of the shift at 7:00 a.m. until late afternoon, the Mainz Professional Fire Department responded to several calls within the city limits.

Immediately after the shift began, the Mainz Fire Department was called to a traffic accident on Zwanzig-Morgen-Weg in Gonsenheim. For reasons that remain unclear, a car veered off the road and ended up in some bushes. The driver of the vehicle was trapped inside but was freed from her car thanks to the joint efforts of the police, emergency medical services, and the fire department, and was then transported to an ambulance for medical treatment.

At 12:00 p.m., Mainz fire department personnel were dispatched toward the Kaiserbrücke bridge, near Obere Austraße in Mainz’s Neustadt district. Unfortunately, the situation reported shortly before via an emergency call to the Mainz Integrated Control Center was confirmed on site: A train had come to a stop on the Rhineland-Palatinate side of the bridge, where it had struck and fatally injured a person. It was too late to save the person. After consulting with the railway’s emergency manager and the Federal Police, the 137 waiting passengers were able to leave the train. The fire department and emergency medical services assisted in evacuating the train cars and safely guided the passengers past the closed Mainz-Nord–Wiesbaden-Ost rail line. All passengers were understanding of this unscheduled measure, as continuing the train journey was not possible for the time being due to the police investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

Shortly thereafter, at 1:23 p.m., another alarm was triggered. Two people were in a gondola on the roof of a twelve-story building on Mittlere Bleiche in the Old Town. The gondola, which is specially designed for cleaning windows on the exterior of a building, had suffered a technical malfunction. As a result, the gondola could no longer be moved, and the individuals were stranded at a great height. The professional fire department first secured the gondola to prevent it from swinging and then brought the people back down to safe ground. In the afternoon, several operations took place simultaneously in the city. For example, an apartment with a helpless person had to be opened in an emergency, a person had to be freed from an elevator, and a vehicle fire had to be extinguished.

A rear-end collision between two cars in the left lane near Gonsenheim caused massive traffic delays on the A 643 and the connecting access roads. Three people required first aid. Here, the highway patrol from the Heidesheim police station took over traffic control until the road was cleared of the vehicles involved in the accident.

The Mainz Fire Department was called to the BioNTech facility at around 1:50 p.m. The call was prompted by a leaking waste container located in a special hazardous materials room. Appropriate safety measures were implemented, the building was evacuated, and approximately 45 firefighters secured the scene. There is no danger to the public or the environment. The operation is ongoing.

The Mainz Fire Department was called to an incident on the BionTech company premises at around 1:50 p.m. The operation concluded at 5:10 p.m., and the building was returned to BionTech. The leak was caused by a leaking waste container located in a special hazardous materials room. The liquids involved were flammable solvents commonly used in laboratory operations.

Appropriate safety measures were implemented; the building was evacuated, and approximately 45 emergency personnel secured the situation. There was no danger to the public or the environment. The operation was confined to the BionTech company premises.

Around 2 p.m., a traffic accident involving two vehicles occurred in Mainz’s Oberstadt district. One of the vehicles ended up on its roof following the collision. A seriously injured person had to be extricated from the wrecked vehicle by the fire department.

A total of four people—two adults and two children—were in the vehicles. All those involved were treated by emergency medical services and taken to hospitals in Mainz for further examination and treatment.

Langenbeckstraße had to be completely closed at times while rescue operations were underway. In addition to the professional fire department, which deployed 14 personnel, several emergency medical service and police vehicles were also on the scene. The operation was completed after about an hour.

The Mainz Fire Department was called to an indoor playground in Mainz-Laubenheim early Saturday morning. The automatic fire alarm system had been triggered there. When the first responders arrived, thick, black smoke was billowing from the openings of the smoke and heat exhaust system, and the entire hall was filled with smoke. Additional personnel from the professional and volunteer fire departments were immediately called in.

Thanks to the fire alarm system and the associated circuit diagrams, the exact location of the fire’s origin was quickly pinpointed. The fire was confined to a small area and was quickly brought under control thanks to the fire department’s rapid response. Since the burning equipment and materials consisted primarily of plastic, this led to heavy smoke development.

The challenge after the fire was extinguished was to clear the smoke from the large, open area. Among other measures, a large-capacity fan from the Mainz Fire Department was deployed for this purpose. At the same time, all adjacent rooms were inspected to rule out any further spread of smoke.

Fortunately, no one was injured during the operation. Thanks to the fire alarm system’s early detection, firefighters were able to respond quickly and prevent a more serious incident. The cause of the fire is not yet known. The approximately 40 personnel from the fire department, police, and emergency medical services were able to conclude the operation after about 3 hours.

Late Sunday evening, at around 11:36 p.m., the Mainz Fire Department was dispatched by the Integrated Control Center to Thomannstraße in Mainz’s Oberstadt neighborhood.

A fire had broken out in an apartment on the ground floor of an apartment building. The installed smoke detectors went off and alerted the residents in time. The tenant and other residents were able to evacuate the building on their own.

A team wearing breathing apparatus located the fire in its early stages within the affected apartment and was able to extinguish it quickly. By that time, the apartment was already heavily filled with smoke. The tenant was transported to a hospital as a precaution for further medical evaluation.

A total of 24 firefighters from the Mainz Fire Department, the emergency medical services with two vehicles, and the police were on the scene.

Thanks to the installed smoke detectors, a more serious outcome was prevented.

On Friday afternoon at around 2:45 p.m., a rear-end collision involving four cars occurred on the A60 between the Hechtsheim-West interchange and the Mainz-Süd interchange. Due to the high number of people involved and injured, as reported via the emergency hotline, several ambulances were dispatched in addition to the Mainz Fire Department and the police. Fortunately, by the time emergency responders arrived, all those involved had already managed to exit their vehicles on their own. All individuals involved were assessed by emergency medical services. Of the seven people involved, three sustained minor injuries and were transported to nearby hospitals for further examination.

During the rescue operations and cleanup efforts, the right lane of the highway was closed, leading to a lengthy traffic jam during rush hour.

Starting around 6:00 p.m. today, heavy rain in the Alzey-Worms district and the city of Worms led to emergency response operations by the volunteer fire departments and the Worms Fire Department. All personnel are currently on the scene, and the Mainz Integrated Control Center is handling emergency calls and alerting emergency responders. We will provide further updates.

In the early evening, several storm cells accompanied by heavy rain moved across parts of the Alzey-Worms district and the city of Worms. Basements filled with water, manhole covers were lifted, and streets were briefly flooded. In the Monsheim administrative district, 65 members of the volunteer fire department were engaged in approximately 30 operations until late in the evening, working to pump water out of basements and low-lying areas and to restore traffic safety on public roads and paths by replacing manhole covers that had been washed away. In the city of Worms as well, the heavy rain caused approximately 80 smaller-scale incidents and dislodged manhole covers. In addition, the 75 volunteer and full-time emergency personnel also had to pump water out of two large warehouses. The emergency personnel will remain busy at the various incident sites for some time to come.

The Mainz Fire Department had to rescue a swimmer from the Rhine this evening. The man had deliberately jumped into the water to swim—in an area that is particularly dangerous.

The rescue operation required the Mainz Fire Department to deploy 7 vehicles and 3 boats (40 personnel); in addition, fire departments from neighboring cities and municipalities on both the Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse sides, as well as several aid organizations, air rescue with a helicopter, and the police were involved in the rescue effort. Coordinating the rescue on the water, from the air, and from the shore presents an enormous logistical challenge every time.

The man in question had jumped into the Rhine from a bridge—an act that is life-threatening. Jumping into the water carries a high risk, especially when water levels are low: shallow areas, hard obstacles beneath the water’s surface, bridge piers, or floating debris can cause serious to fatal injuries. But even during normal or high water levels, these invisible obstacles pose a deadly danger.

Dangerous situations occur time and again because people massively underestimate the risks of a large river like the Rhine. The current is treacherous—even when the surface appears calm, it can pull strongly underwater. Near Mainz, the Main River also flows into the Rhine, making the currents even more unpredictable. Just a few meters from the shore, a person can be caught by the current and swept away.

   Dangers in the Rhine at a glance:
  - Invisible currents: The Rhine’s current is
  unpredictable and cannot be detected from the surface. It can sweep away even
  experienced swimmers.
   - Ship and boat traffic: The Rhine is one of
  Europe’s busiest waterways. Commercial vessels and
  recreational boats have a long stopping distance and can easily overlook swimmers in
  the water—with potentially fatal consequences.
   - Dangerous structures: Piers, bridge piers, and sheet pile walls
  are not only obstacles—they also create dangerous
  current conditions where you can get injured or be pulled underwater
 .
The area where the swimmer was rescued is officially off-limits for swimming. This regulation is not intended to be a nuisance, but to protect human lives. Anyone who enters the water there puts themselves—and, in an emergency, the rescue teams as well—in unnecessary danger.

   What to do if you accidentally fall into the water?
  - Stay calm—avoid panicking, even if the initial shock
  is intense.
  - Roll onto your back—this keeps your head above water and allows you
  to breathe more easily.
   - Let the current carry you—do not try to swim against the
  current.
  - Head for a safe shore or a dock as
  soon as possible.
   - Call for help—draw attention to yourself
  by waving or shouting.
Appeal from the fire department: Do not enter the Rhine to bathe or swim. Instead, use the official and supervised swimming areas in the region. What may seem like fun in the Rhine can quickly end in tragedy—and this applies not only to inexperienced swimmers.

The Mainz Fire Department thanks the observant passersby who made the emergency call, as well as all the emergency personnel for their quick and coordinated response.

The German Weather Service (DWD) had issued a Level 3 severe weather warning for large areas of western Germany, including the coverage area of the Mainz Integrated Control Center (ILS), for Saturday afternoon, May 31, 2025. For this reason, coordination meetings were held as early as that morning between the ILS locations, the fire and disaster control inspectors (BKI) of the Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuznach, and Mainz-Bingen districts, and the Worms Professional Fire Department. Around 4:00 p.m., storm operations were activated for the Mainz ILS, prompting the mobilization of off-duty personnel as reinforcements. This measure was taken as a precaution in light of the expected weather conditions in the control center’s coverage area and the anticipated increase in emergency calls. Between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., there was one alert in the Mainz city area, three in the Alzey-Worms district, seven in the Bad Kreuznach district, and four in the Mainz-Bingen district for the respective fire departments in response to the weather conditions. Since, according to the DWD meteorologist on duty, the weather situation had significantly improved by around 5:15 p.m., the severe weather response by the Mainz Integrated Control Center (ILS) was lifted around 5:45 p.m.