Dramatic operation

One fatality in fire at Rohrbach town square

13 fire departments were involved in the major fire.

(Bild: FRANZ PLECHINGER/FOTOKERSCHI)

At around 2 a.m., the sirens were wailing in Rohrbach in Upper Austria: A building on the town square had gone up in flames and a level three alert was sounded. A total of 13 fire departments from the surrounding area battled the flames until the early hours of the morning, and one person could not be rescued.

"I've never seen a fire this dramatic," says Martin Wakolbinger, commander of the Rohrbach fire department. He and his comrades were alerted to a burning building on Rohrbach's town square at around 1.50 am on Tuesday night.

13 fire departments were deployed to the blaze.

(Bild: FRANZ PLECHINGER/FOTOKERSCHI)

Dramatic scenes
When the firefighters arrived at the scene, several rooms on the second floor of the apartment building were already fully engulfed in flames. "One person was lying on the sidewalk in front of the house, another person was standing outside on the window sill on the second floor and was about to jump. We were able to prevent this by shouting at the last moment," says Wakolbinger.

(Bild: MARTIN SCHARINGER/FOTOKERSCHI)

Jumped out of the window
The tenant was brought to safety using a turntable ladder. There was no rescue for the 53-year-old lying on the sidewalk. He probably died when he tried to save himself from the flames by jumping out of the window.

(Bild: FRANZ PLECHINGER/FOTOKERSCHI)

The multi-storey building houses a restaurant, apartments and a guesthouse. In total, around 14 people were evacuated by firefighters. It was possible to prevent the fire from spreading to directly adjacent houses. The building is currently uninhabitable and investigators are investigating the cause of the fire. Around 250 helpers from 13 fire brigades were busy extinguishing the fire until the early hours of the morning.