At 5 p.m., the emergency services of the Steyr volunteer fire brigade were notified. Fire engines from Gleink, the inner city, Christkindl, Münichholz and from the professional fire brigades BMW, SKF and Linz were deployed at the BMW plant in Steyr. In total there were 100 people with 15 vehicles. There was a fire on the roof of a hall on the BMW factory premises.
“Bitumen and tar caught fire. That’s why there was such an intense smoke development,” says Gerhard Praxmarer, head of operations and commander of the volunteer fire brigade, in an interview with OÖN. The liquid bitumen ate through the ceiling into the floor below. After about an hour and a half, the emergency services managed to extinguish the fire and eliminate the embers.
The professional fire brigade Linz was no longer used. She was requested because she has a special device that can be used to penetrate the roof skin and at the same time take extinguishing measures. “You drill in and bring in water at the same time,” says the professional fire brigade when asked by OÖN.
Temperatures were an issue
The prevailing temperatures posed a problem for the emergency services. There were one or two faint spells, says Praxmarer. However, no one was injured in the operation.
Now the work of the police begins. Fire investigators will determine how the fire started. Luckily there were no machines in the production hall under construction, otherwise the material damage would have been significantly higher.
Source: Nachrichten
