The column of smoke in the south of the federal capital could be seen from afar shortly before 4 p.m. The flames were brought under control by evening. For the time being, however, not all embers could be eliminated because the hall is in danger of collapsing, fire department spokesman Jürgen Figerl reported to APA.
The building had already partially collapsed during the extinguishing work. “A fire watch will be installed overnight, which – should the fire flare up again – can intervene immediately,” explained Figerl. The operation will take several hours, but the number of emergency services will be gradually reduced. A total of more than 100 firefighters with 26 vehicles had previously deployed.
The company building on Birostrasse in the industrial area of the Inzersdorf district was engulfed in fire after a while. “Due to the size of the fire, alarm level 3 was declared,” explained the spokesman for Vienna’s professional fire brigade. This resulted in the corresponding number of firefighters and vehicles being alerted.
The firefighting was tackled, among other things, with four water cannons using turntable ladders and a telescopic mast platform. The extensive use required large amounts of water, “the provision and pumping of the fire-fighting water is carried out using large tank fire-fighting vehicles,” emphasized Figerl. Although the hall area had partially collapsed, it was possible to prevent the flames from spreading to the office wing.
Those present in the building had left the fire area on their own before the fire brigade arrived, and nobody was injured. The cause of the fire was still unclear.
Source: Nachrichten
