Excavator opened facade

Hall inferno fought until after midnight

Right next to the highway, the warehouse with decoration materials in Biedermannsdorf caught fire.

(Bild: FF Mödling/Manfred Haslinger)

Numerous firefighters are still on site in Biedermannsdorf (Lower Austria) after the huge hall fire to extinguish embers. Four firefighters were injured in the process. It was not until 0.30 a.m. that the "fire out" signal was given. One of the "brilliant ideas" to finally put an end to the sea of flames: an excavator!

For hours on Tuesday afternoon, a huge fire raged right next to the southern highway (A2) near Wiener Neudorf. A 1500 square meter hall full of decoration materials caught fire and the huge column of smoke could be seen as far away as Vienna.

Large contingent of emergency services
316 firefighters from 13 fire departments were deployed to the scene. Drivers had to reduce their speed in some cases due to the heavy visibility caused by the billows of smoke and the population of the three municipalities of Biedermannsdorf, Wiener Neudorf and Mödling were urged to close all windows and doors to protect themselves from the fumes. 

Firefighting from the highway
One lane of the southern highway (A2) was soon closed so that a fire department team could also extinguish the fire from this side of the huge hall. In the course of the long battle against the hall inferno, an excavator was also set down on the highway at around 11 p.m., which began to tear away parts of the hall façade from this side in order to be able to better tackle the flames, reported Paul Fastner from the Mödling district fire brigade command. 

Long battle and long watch
"The fire was put out at 0.30 am," Fastner told the "Krone" newspaper. The exposed embers and smaller fires were extinguished by the fire watch. It was possible to prevent the fire from spreading to neighboring halls and to an extension of the burnt-out hall. However, the hall is in serious danger of collapsing, which is why a fire-fighting operation from the inside was quickly called off on Tuesday. A high-voltage power line in the immediate vicinity of the hall also made it difficult to fight the fire. In addition, four injured firefighters had to be treated on site.

"The extinguishing work will continue throughout the day", says Bernhard Tröszter, head of operations and fire department commander of Biedermannsdorf. In addition to the post-extinguishing work, investigations into the cause of the fire are already underway; so far there have been no suggestions as to what may have caused the fire. The high-voltage power line above the Inferno hall is now also being closely examined.