Tractor burned: fire brigade prevented forest fire

Four volunteer fire brigades – Gaflenz, Lindau-Neudorf, Waidhofen/Ybbs-Wirts and Weyer – with ten vehicles and 80 men were on duty in a wooded area in Gaflenz on Friday afternoon to prevent the fire from spreading to the forest area after a tractor fire.

A tractor caught fire on a forest road in the middle of the forest. The column of smoke from the forest in Oberland could already be seen from the Gaflenz fire station. Due to the remote location at around 700 meters above sea level, the only way to get there via a 2.5 kilometer long forest road and the lack of a water intake point nearby, two other fire brigades with tank fire engines were immediately alerted via the state warning center.

No injuries

“When we arrived, the tractor was already fully engulfed in flames, and the area around the forest floor was also affected by the fire,” reports fire brigade spokesman Christoph Hochstrasser.

The crew of the command vehicle and the respiratory protection team immediately began fighting the fire. Meanwhile, the Gaflenz fire engine had set up a water extraction point near a stream in the valley so that, if necessary, shuttle service with tank fire engines could be started from there.

“Thanks to the targeted approach, the fire was quickly brought under control,” reports Hochstrasser, “fortunately no one was injured.” The spread of the fire to the extensive adjacent forest area was also successfully prevented.