Specialists investigate

Hot gases from the chimney set the roof on fire

The fire departments battled the flames for three hours.(Bild: FF Stoob)

Rescue at the last second! When a large contingent of firefighters arrived at a house on Hauptstraße in Stoob (Burgenland) during the night, the residents were still asleep. But the roof was already ablaze. No one was injured. The investigation is now complete. The damage: 200,000 euros.

Last Saturday at around 1.45 a.m., the roof truss of a house in Stoob went up in flames. The owners were at home on the ground floor, their grandson and his girlfriend on the upper floor. An attentive woman had noticed the fire. It was the fire department that woke the sleeping residents. All remained unharmed. 

Main road closed
The difficult extinguishing work lasted until five o'clock in the morning. 60 firefighters from Stoob, Neutal, Oberpullendorf and Pinkafeld were on site with ten vehicles under the direction of Alexander Schreiner. The B50 was closed during the entire operation.

The fire on the roof of the residential building caused damage of 200,000 euros.(Bild: FF Stoob)

Startled by the alarm
"The fire engine siren woke us from our sleep. There was still no smoke in the room," reported the homeowners' grandson, who was in the attic apartment with his girlfriend. The fire that he had lit in the fireplace the night before was no longer burning at around 1 am. Only embers were still visible, he said.

Hot gases escaped
The fire investigators ruled out an electrical fault. The insulated cables had remained almost intact. However, it was found that the glass fireplace door was not 100% sealed. It is therefore suspected that hot gases from the chimney could have started the fire. "That is highly likely. There is no evidence of negligence," is the conclusion. The damage is estimated at 200,000 euros.