Dramatic scenes – cellar fire: 86-year-old rescued by the fire brigade

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., a fire broke out in the basement of the home. The 86-year-old resident was in the living room of the house at the time. Her husband (85) had left home and was staying in the nearby machine shed. When a neighbor (51) saw the smoke rising from the basement of the house, he reacted quickly. He immediately alerted the fire brigade and tried to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher he brought along through a smashed window in the workshop in the basement.

The 51-year-old housekeeper also quickly noticed the fire after the power went out in the house. When she looked outside, she also saw the fire. However, due to the heavy smoke development, she was unable to return to the 86-year-old’s home.

Firefighters rescued pensioner
A breathing protection team from the fire brigade was finally able to rescue the 86-year-old from the smoke-filled house in time. The Vorau Red Cross and a team of emergency doctors were quickly mobilized to provide medical care, but the retiree was not injured. Almost 30 emergency services from the fire brigades of Mönichwald and St. Lorenzen am Wechsel were able to quickly extinguish the fire. They also ventilated the smoke and soot filled rooms. Neither people nor animals were injured in the fire. However, the resulting material damage will probably amount to several tens of thousands of euros.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing
A patrol from the Vorau Police Inspectorate and a fire investigator from the district were deployed to investigate the fire. An initial inspection of the scene of the fire revealed that the fire was believed to have started in a garbage bag in the workshop basement. The fire may have been started by discarded garbage. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.