Wanzl is donating exactly 100,000 euros to the volunteer fire services and the local branches of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and the Bavarian Red Cross who helped out at temperatures of as low as -14°C when the major fire broke out in Leipheim.
“Our donation is a gesture of our thanks and appreciation for the work of the volunteers," explains Gottfried Wanzl, managing director of Wanzl Metallwarenfabrik GmbH. After all, the fire that broke out on 11 February at around 2.50 a.m. due to a technical fault in the company's electroplating system did not only require a large amount of work from the volunteers, it also used up some of their materials. "Wanzl does not want a situation where the voluntary fire officers of other areas who came to help us here in Leipheim have to bear a financial burden as a result," commented Gottfried Wanzl, getting right to the point. The company is therefore making a donation of 100,000 euros. This sum is based on a fixed scale and will be divided among the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in Günzburg and Krumbach, the local branches of the Bavarian Red Cross in Günzburg, and district fire commissioner Robert Spiller, who will in turn distribute the sum awarded to the 18 volunteer fire services involved.
Following the fire, Wanzl experienced a real wave of readiness to help, particularly from among its own employees. Around 70 people from all business areas lent a hand at the site of the fire the weekend it took place. From the word go, employees from the section of the building affected by the fire were prepared to carry on their work at the other plants, including at the Kirchheim (Swabia) site, which is around 50 kilometres away. "This co-operative attitude is making it easy for us to look ahead, despite the fact that the actual cost of the damage is much higher than we had hoped for in the first few days," says Gabriele Wanzl. The renovation work in the basement is now nearly complete and the roof has been removed. The new building shell must be in place in late autumn in order to be ready for the electroplating systems. According to the schedule, these will be put into operation in three stages: at the start of March, the end of May and in autumn 2013. The fire at Wanzl started due to an arc occurring in a faulty power cable. It resulted in the complete destruction of the galvanisation hall to the extent that it was in danger of collapsing. The fire protection walls withstood the fire and prevented it from spreading to other parts of the building. The new hall will also fulfil the highest of standards when it comes to the quality of the fire walls and the safety standards met by the floors and walls.
