On October 27, 1971 at around 8:25 p.m., the tanker "Maintank 5" caught fire as a result of an explosion. A crack in the transfer line to the quay caused the petrol to spray out and ignite on a pump motor. The tanker was carrying almost 400,000 liters of petrol, was torn apart and partially sank.
The force of the explosion shattered almost all the windows in the north ring opposite. The skipper was seriously injured and one sailor was slightly injured in the accident. The skipper's wife and two children were killed.
80 firefighters from the Offenbach and Frankfurt fire departments extinguished the fire after about an hour. The fire was prevented from spreading to the other oil tanks on the port site thanks to the massive use of foam and water cannons from the Frankfurt fireboat.
Until then, the Offenbach professional fire department did not have a vehicle with a permanently mounted water cannon with which a large throw range could be achieved. This deficit in the provision of firefighting equipment was recognized by the deployment. As a result, a large tank fire engine was procured and put into service in 1972.