“Fireman with morbid ambition” was the headline in the OÖN on July 2, 1962 about a fire on a farm in Andorf (Schärding district). As it turned out, a 37-year-old firefighter “had a hand in it,” according to the newspaper report. The fire chief had started the fire himself, waited until the siren wailed and then eagerly participated in the extinguishing work. As a result, he was initially not suspected, but then got caught up in contradictions and finally confessed to his crime.
His reason: The fire department is everything to him, which has led to teasing by comrades. He wanted to show them. “He was jokingly accused of not getting anything done with his firefighting team, not even an award,” the article says. The 37-year-old crossing guard at the Bundesbahn took that to heart so much that he “reached a match in a morbid ambition.” The fire caused only minor damage of 2,000 shillings due to the rapid intervention of the firefighters.
The OÖN report at the time:
Source: Nachrichten
