North Rhine-Westphalia: Fire in the Erkrath school center

The extinguishing work in the school center in Erkrath has been completed. Two schools are no longer usable. The city of Düsseldorf offers classrooms.

After the devastating fire of a school complex in Erkrath, the city of Düsseldorf has offered around 1,200 Erkrath students its support. They move into the former building of the Schloß-Gymnasium Benrath at short notice.

"The care of students is a top priority in Düsseldorf and it was a personal concern for me to immediately support here across municipalities," said Lord Mayor Stephan Keller. The lessons are to be held from the 26th. May be taken again. Until then, the students of the secondary school and the grammar school will go to distance learning from Friday on.

Transitional solution until February 2026

This is possible because the Schloß-Gymnasium moved into new rooms in February. After the summer holidays, when the Realschule Benrath also moves into new rooms, another 25 classrooms will become free, which can also be used by the students from Erkrath.

The classrooms in Benrath are available for the time being until February 2026. The approximately 20-minute drive from the Hochdahler school center to the south of Düsseldorf will take place via several school buses of the Rheinbahn, which are used at different intervals.

Administrations move to the fire station

A burnt-out school building in Erkrath

The administrations should first move to the fire station. The secondary school will be usable again after cleaning the soot, where distance learning has been running since Thursday. The secondary school should be from Monday, 19. May, return to regular school operations. After all: Already written graduation exams could be saved and the closing ceremonies will take place, namely in the Erkrather Stadthalle.

The fire in the school complex on Rankestraße in Erkrath broke out on Tuesday afternoon. The fire brigade also extinguished on the night of Wednesday with around 250 emergency personnel from the entire district of Mettmann. In the meantime, the fire has been completely extinguished. Pupils were no longer on site at the time of the fire. No one was injured.

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Major fire in Erkrath destroys school center | short video

Not the first fire

The photovoltaic system on the roof of the building had caught fire, why is still unclear. The police have now begun investigating the cause of the fire. According to WDR information, work was carried out on the plant, which dates back to 2011. In addition, there had already been a fire on the roof of the school two years ago. Part of the photovoltaic system was also on fire.

Spectacular use

"This was already a big and spectacular operation," Hans-Peter Kremer, head of operations of the Erkrath fire brigade, told WDR. The fire developed extremely quickly and expanded to the individual floors in the building. The confusing structure of the buildings also made the extinguishing work more difficult.

Fire brigade forces roll out a long hose in Erkrath

After the actual fire was extinguished, the emergency services had to spend hours on embers. The extinguishing water had also become scarce during the operation. "We then got water from the city pond." The fire department had originally assumed that the fire would be extinguished by the morning. In the afternoon, however, emergency services were still on site.

Danger from asbestos

According to the fire brigade, it cannot be ruled out that asbestos has been released inside the school center, as renovation work is currently taking place there. This also poses dangers for the emergency services and means more effort. They had to be re-dressed again and again. In the meantime, it is clear that it is white asbestos. It is less dangerous and does not penetrate so deep into the lungs.

There is no danger for the citizens. If asbestos remains have actually settled down with soot, they can be wiped away with soapy water. "You should just throw away the wipes."

School rooms no longer usable

The Rankestraße school center houses a secondary school and a secondary school as well as a grammar school. Except for the secondary school, the buildings are no longer usable. According to initial assessments, it would look like a total loss, according to operations manager Kremer: "There is certainly no school operation conceivable here at the moment."

For the approximately 1,200 students of the secondary school and the grammar school, the lessons on Wednesday were cancelled. This also applied to the secondary school, although the building was not affected by the fire, the city said. The neighboring sports halls and the sports field will remain closed until Sunday for school and club sports.

Six children's and youth facilities closed as a precaution

According to the city, six children's and youth facilities were also closed on Wednesday as a precaution, including several daycare centers. They are located in an area where smoke and fire particles could have been drawn, it was said in the justification. Parents should be informed via Kita-App.

According to the Düsseldorf district government, the Erkrather Gymnasium am Neandertal is providing rooms for the upcoming Abitur exam on Friday. In addition, the central examinations according to grade 10 must also be ensured.

Soon lessons in exhibition halls?

The students must now be distributed to other locations. Several schools and cities have offered to support the school center. Düsseldorf's Lord Mayor Stephan Keller has also assured his support.

The school department is currently examining which schools could provide premises for taking classes or courses from Erkrath. "It is also possible to offer an exhibition hall at short notice as an alternative option," says Keller.

Uwe Heidelberg, school principalUwe

Heidelberg, director of the secondary school in the district of Hochdahl, is impressed by the solidarity. He had already received many messages from school principals in surrounding cities on Tuesday evening. "That's fantastic," he thinks.

NRW Minister of Education Dorothee Feller was affected by the accident. "It's hard to put into words what it means when a familiar place of learning, life and cohesion suddenly no longer exists," she said. "Everything is being done so that regular lessons will soon be possible again and now all final exams can take place as planned."

Telephone hotline offers help

A psychological care offer has now also been set up for affected students. According to the city, a telephone hotline is available between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. An accompanying care offer is also planned for the teachers of the secondary school and the grammar school.

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