What caused the fire?

Fire in old school: massive smoke from windows

The emergency services searched the entire building!

(Bild: Hauptfeuerwache Villach)

Shortly before 6 p.m. on Monday, the Carinthian fire department received an emergency call: a caller had noticed heavy smoke in the former tourism vocational school in Villach. The firefighters in the Spittal district also had to respond!

The building has actually been empty for a long time - but a fire broke out in the basement and on the first floor of the old school in the Wollanig district. "When the first firefighters arrived at the scene, they could already see massive smoke coming from the windows of the basement and first floor," according to the Villach main fire station.

Around 60 firefighters from three fire departments were on site with 13 vehicles; several breathing apparatus teams - equipped with thermal imaging cameras and extinguishing lines - fought their way into the completely smoke-filled building: "The entire building had to be searched for people and the source of the fire had to be located and fought at the same time!"

Smoke was billowing out of the windows!

(Bild: Hauptfeuerwache Villach)

Fire debris was on the first floor
Once it was clear that there were no more people in the school, the smoke was blown outside with the help of several high-performance fans: "The still smoldering fire debris, which was on the first floor of the building, was taken outside and completely extinguished," reports Chief Fire Inspector Martin Regenfelder.

What caused the fire in the vacant building is now being investigated by the Villach criminal investigation department - after around 2.5 hours, the firefighters returned to the scene.

The vehicle was a total loss.

(Bild: FF Greifenburg)

Articulated truck loaded with wood went up in flames
The fire departments in the Spittal district were also called upon on Monday. The Greifenburg, Bruggen, Hauzendorf, Berg im Drautal, Radlach and Weißensee fire brigades were deployed with a total of 51 firefighters and six vehicles because an articulated lorry loaded with sawn timber suddenly burst into flames on the B87: "When the driver got out of the driver's cab, he immediately noticed large flames coming from the area underneath the driver's cab," reports the regional police headquarters. The driver in question was a 52-year-old driver from Villach, who suddenly noticed a loud noise and the engine control light coming on in the municipality of Weißensee.

The driver from Villach and a truck driver who had joined him tried to stop the blazing flames immediately with fire extinguishers - but without success. When the vehicle caught fire, only the fire department was able to extinguish the blaze. "The towing vehicle was totaled and the semi-trailer suffered considerable material damage," the police continued.

Two-hour road closure
During the extinguishing work, the Weißensee Straße B87 was closed to all traffic between 2.30 pm and 4.15 pm. Clean-up work and vehicle recovery were still underway afterwards, resulting in brief traffic stops on both sides.