A car caught fire on the A3 motorway between Idstein and Limburg on Friday evening, causing a traffic jam about ten kilometers long. Traffic heading toward Cologne was disrupted for hours as emergency services worked at the scene.
The driver steered the vehicle onto the hard shoulder after noticing flames coming from under the bonnet, according to late-night police statements. A passing motorist stopped to try to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher from his own car, but was unsuccessful. Police said the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames within a very short time, and the fire department responded with numerous vehicles to extinguish the fire.
Embankment fire and highway closure
The motorway section between Idstein in Rheingau-Taunus and Limburg-Sued was closed, causing traffic to back up for about ten kilometers. Lanes were gradually reopened over the course of the evening. A spokeswoman for the Wiesbaden highway police said heavy commuter traffic combined with the end of school holidays in Hesse contributed to the heavy congestion.
The flames also spread to the adjacent embankment, which caught fire easily due to dry weather in recent days. Spilled fuel on the roadway forced the temporary full closure of the highway toward Cologne.
Police attribute the fire to a technical defect. Property damage was estimated at around 5,000 euros, and no one was injured.
