Had to go to hospital

Igniter put 20 residents in danger

The fire department removed several charred objects from the cellar of the apartment building in Bad Ischl

(Bild: FF Bad Ischl)

He discovered the fire and then had to be taken to hospital. A 19-year-old reported a fire in a cellar in Bad Ischl. While the arsonist is still being sought, a young female firefighter who set the fire is still behind bars.

An arsonist was obviously at work and put 20 tenants in Bad Ischl in extreme danger! There were fires in several places in the basement of the apartment building in Hubkoglstraße. At least one mattress lying around and a bicycle had been set on fire.

Stairwell filled with smoke
The fire was noticed when a 19-year-old came home shortly before half past five in the morning on Saturday. He ran to his mother, who then set the rescue chain in motion. A total of ten fire departments arrived at the scene, four breathing apparatus teams advanced into the cellar and through the smoke-filled stairwell to the apartments. While the small fires in the basement were extinguished, the firefighters brought the tenants to safety. They all escaped with a fright, only the 19-year-old fire detector had to be taken to hospital with suspected smoke inhalation.

The police are now investigating arson. The fact is that the cellar compartments in which the fire was set are freely accessible. It is still unclear whether fire accelerants were used.

Firefighter still in custody
The siren also sounded in Feldkirchen/D. on Saturday night. This time it was just a fire alarm. Like their comrades in the neighboring village of Goldwörth shortly before, the firefighters in the Danube community had been called out to three arson incidents at the beginning of May. There was one fire in a forest, one in the middle of the village and then the barn of a farmhouse went up in flames.

(Bild: FF Bad Mühllacken)

As is well known, a 19-year-old female firefighter, who was also involved in the operations herself, was arrested on May 9 on suspicion of arson. "The suspect is still in custody, which was extended this week," confirms Ulrike Breiteneder from the Linz public prosecutor's office. The expert opinion of the fire expert is still missing, a psychiatric expert has not been commissioned. The medical history of the suspect, who had already set fire to the building in the past, is being closely scrutinized.