Hemmental village fire
The Hemmental village fire on September 17, 1909 in the small outskirts of Hemmental is one of the largest fire disasters of the 20th century in the canton of Schaffhausen . 9 buildings in the village center were destroyed. 10 families with 51 people lost their homes.
course
At around 3 p.m., the Mettlerhof caught fire for unexplained reasons. Most of the men were at work in the fields and in the factories of Schaffhausen by this time . In addition, some of them attended a military refresher course in Winterthur . Until the fire brigades from Schaffhausen and Beringen arrived and asked for help, the women and the few remaining firefighters from Hemmental were on their own.
In spite of the calm, the fire spread very quickly in the wooden houses that were built together. It found plenty of food in the stored hay and grain stores. The extinguishing work was made more difficult by the scarcity of extinguishing water. It had to be taken from the village well, the dammed village stream and from cesspools. The fire brigade soon limited itself to rescuing animals and belongings. Thanks to additional extinguishing water that was brought in from Schaffhausen in wagons, the fire could be brought under control after three and a half hours to such an extent that it could not spread to other buildings.
consequences
Ten families, some with up to six children, lost practically all of their property in the fire. The 51 homeless people spent the first night in the village church. Later the old school house was prepared as an emergency shelter. The fire disaster triggered a large wave of aid far beyond the canton's borders.
The cantonal building insurance company determined the material damage to be CHF 37,530. The houses were insured for CHF 35,600. Despite the existing insurance, it was feared that some families would leave the village in need. But it did not come to that. The village community moved even closer together and rebuilt the row of burned houses. In addition, a high pressure water line with hydrants was built.
literature
- Kurt Bächtold: Schaffhauser Magazin No. 2/1984 Verlag Steiner + Grüninger AG, Schaffhausen
- Schaffhauser Nachrichten of September 17, 2009