Image: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI.AT / KERSCHBAUMMAYR
“We were alerted at 6:14 p.m. to the fire in the village of Rosenau, and at 6:18 p.m. we triggered alarm level 2 because the fire was developing so severely,” Mayrhofer describes. Neighbors noticed heavy smoke in the house and called the fire department. At this point, the smoke and the heat were already so strong that a respiratory protection team had to turn back. “The first respiratory protection team had to go out again after five minutes, there was nothing more to be done,” says the fire brigade commander. At that time, the helpers knew nothing about the fate of the two residents.
“Ten Hours Full Fire”
The big challenge for head of operations Michael Kühn – he had coordinated the deployment of around 190 firefighters on Friday – was the large fire load. “There was an enormous amount of rubbish stored in the house, around one and a half meters high, everything just burned,” said Christian Mayrhofer on Saturday in the OÖN interview. “We had a full fire for practically ten hours, until four in the morning. Ultimately, the use of high-expansion foam was the very last option to bring the fire under control,” explains the fire brigade commander, who was on duty as a police officer at the scene of the fire on Friday.
Certainty 20 hours later
In addition, during the night there was a thunderstorm that again presented the firefighters with major challenges, as Christian Mayrhofer describes: “Around half past eleven a thunderstorm suddenly blew up and a strong wind blew up, and we had to do everything we could to prevent the spread of the fire To prevent fire on neighboring buildings.” A total of around 300 firefighters, 30 of them with heavy respiratory protection, were deployed.
The extinguishing work was difficult, and the roof structure had to be removed with a crane vehicle during the night. The house was then statically secured, entering would have been too dangerous for the firefighters. Even if there was still a spark of hope up until then: On Saturday around 2 p.m. it was certain:
The 61-year-old woman was found dead by firefighters, and an hour later her husband, who was bedridden, was also found dead. Both may have suffocated from the smoke. The couple’s loved ones were cared for by the crisis intervention team.
Seewalchen’s Mayor Gerald Egger was still under the impression of the drama of the past few hours on Saturday. He knew the couple who were still missing at that time, but the two had not been seen much in public, Egger said.
Despite the tragic events, the mayor of Seewalchen was impressed by the work of the helpers. “Fire brigades, Red Cross, police, crisis intervention team – hundreds of emergency services were at work last night and did incredible things. The level of cooperation and moral courage that has been shown here – also with the neighbors – deserves the highest praise. Such a mission requires thousands of actions that have to be appreciated,” said Egger. “As a mayor, you can only be proud of it, despite all the drama!”
Fire broke out in the kitchen
According to fire experts, the fire may have started in the kitchen, but the exact cause of the fire was not known until Sunday evening. However, there are no indications of third-party fault, as the police said in a press release on Sunday.
Source: Nachrichten
