Fire at Rheinmetall construction site near Kassel – state security investigates

According to the police's initial findings, the fire at a construction site at Kassel-Calden Airport was deliberately set.

A witness noticed flames on the site south of Federal Highway 7 around 3:15 a.m. on Friday night and alerted the fire department and police, as the North Hesse Police Headquarters announced.

When officers arrived, three construction machines were on fire. The fire department extinguished it, and other nearby machines were damaged.

Because there is no public water supply on the site, the airport fire department supported the Calden volunteer fire department, as “Osthessen News” reports. The fire was extinguished around 5 a.m.

Because of a possible political motive, the State Security Criminal Inspectorate took over the investigation. The background to the crime is unclear. The crime scene has been cordoned off for forensic investigation and the police are looking for witnesses. A spokesman did not provide any information on the amount of damage on Friday morning.

According to the police, the construction site is the location of Rheinmetall's planned logistics and training center as well as its drone testing center. The company and the state of Hesse presented the plans for a “Defense Hub North Hesse” at the end of August. Rheinmetall wants to invest more than 260 million euros in its plant in Kassel and the airport, and the state is adding another 25 million euros.

Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) announced at the time that the country wanted to establish the airport even more as a military hub. Critics reject the expansion of the airport into a “military hub for Rheinmetall,” as Hessischer Rundfunk reports.