Image: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI.AT / KERSCHBAUMMAYR
For reasons that are still unknown, the fire in the residential building in the village of Rosenau (community of Seewalchen am Attersee) started around 6:15 p.m. Neighbors noticed the heavy smoke and sounded the alarm. At this point the house could no longer be entered. A couple, a 61-year-old woman and her bedridden 64-year-old husband, were staying in the building.
16 fire brigades with 190 helpers were called to the fire, and alarm level three was declared. The fire had quickly spread to the entire house. It was also impossible for the fire brigade to enter the building despite heavy respiratory protection. The location at the end of a cul-de-sac also made extinguishing the fire more difficult. The flames were prevented from spreading to other buildings.
The residents are still missing, it can be assumed that both died. The search for the couple had to be stopped because of the blazing fire. The relatives are cared for by a crisis intervention team.
In order to fight the fire, the roof truss had to be removed with a crane vehicle during the night hours. The emergency services were on site all night, and the work continued on Saturday morning. Due to the amount of rubbish in the house, no “fire out” could be given. An expert will examine the site on Saturday to determine the cause of the fire.
“Responders have done an incredible job”
“The clean-up work is still going on, the emergency services are still busy,” said Seewalchen’s mayor Gerald Egger on Saturday morning in an interview with the Upper Austria News. Although he knew the missing couple, the two had not been seen much in public, said Egger, still under the impression of the drama of the previous night. Despite the tragic events, the mayor of Seewalchen is impressed by the work of the helpers. “Fire brigades, Red Cross, police, crisis intervention team – there were more than 200 emergency services at work last night and achieved incredible things. The cooperation that was achieved here and the civil courage shown deserves the highest praise. A mission like this requires thousands of actions that you have to appreciate,” said Egger. “As a mayor, you can only be proud of it, despite all the drama!” Sympathy goes out to the relatives who needed a lot of support after this tragedy.
Source: Nachrichten
