Fundraiser For Service Pooch; Brunnmatt School Fire; Siren Tests Set For Tomorrow

News For 31, January 2023

A Basel family has created a social-media fundraiser for their 7 year-old German Shepherd named Joy to pay for her life saving surgery.  The young family has exhausted their pet health insurance, which has left them close to twenty thousand Swiss Francs in the hole to cover the emergency surgery.  The dog was working as a security dog along with one of its owners prior to its emergency surgery.  People interested in helping can visit the doggo's GoFundMe page to get more information and contribute.

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Last night at the Brunnmatt school in the Gundeli neighborhood of Basel, a fire broke out in the ground floor toilets around 10 o'clock in the evening.  Emergency services were on hand to extinguish the fire, but unfortunately, not in time to prevent smoke damage which has now forced the primary school classes into temporary classrooms in makeshift facilities adjacent to the school.  It appears that vandals are to blame, but no arrests or criminal charges have been filed yet.

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Tomorrow at 13:30, Basel Stadt intends to test its emergency alarm systems.  Scheduled to take place the first Wednesday of every February, the alarm tests are conducted to ensure that all Swiss residents are prepared should a real emergency occur.  The alarms will sound like loud emergency tones normally associated with tornadoes and fires in the Anglo speaking world. If you are interested in learning more information about the tests the Alerswiss app is available for download to your smartphone.