Confession: 18-year-old set fire to apartment building in Bad Ischl

The fire broke out in several places in the basement of the apartment building. The residents were evacuated by the fire department. Arson was already suspected on Saturday.

• Read more: Arson? Apartment building in Bad Ischl evacuated

This suspicion was confirmed at the weekend after the apartment building was inspected by fire experts. The four fires in different places in the basement could not be attributed to any technical defect.

Specifically, a bicycle tire, wooden pallets and foam mattresses were set on fire. Because of the burning foam mattresses, the fire then spread uncontrollably.

Only the rapid intervention of the fire brigade prevented the fire from spreading to the entire basement and living area of ​​the house. The smoke reached the top floor and was only stopped by the closed fire doors.

18-year-old made confession

An 18-year-old from the Gmunden district, who was the first to raise the alarm about a fire in the basement of an apartment building in Bad Ischl on Saturday morning, has been investigated by the police as a possible arsonist.

The young man confessed during questioning and was taken to Wels prison, police reported.

On Saturday morning, he first reported the fire to his mother, who then set the chain of operations in motion. 20 people escaped to the outside, one resident had to be woken up by the fire department and brought outside. The suspect himself was taken to hospital by ambulance with suspected smoke poisoning.