Crisis team on site

Herbal farm completely destroyed in major fire

The hall fell victim to the flames.

(Bild: FF Sarleinsbach)

Major operation in the Mühlviertel: A herb business in Sarleinsbach was on fire at midday on Tuesday. 13 fire departments responded and were only just able to prevent the flames from spreading to the adjacent residential buildings. The crisis intervention team looked after seven people.

The Thaller organic farm in Sarleinsbach has been dedicated to the herb business for almost 30 years. On Tuesday afternoon, the drying hall for the herbs was completely destroyed by fire, as Roland Katzinger, head of operations at the Sarleinsbach fire department, reports.

The fire departments were called at around 12.30 p.m. and quickly triggered the highest alarm level 3. According to Katzinger, the fire broke out in a hall. It is still unclear why, but the drying process there is operated by a wood chip plant.

A total of 13 fire departments were deployed.

(Bild: FF Sarleinsbach)

Residential building just barely saved
"There are two residential buildings to the left and right of the farm. The windows are torn and the façade of one is damaged, but the houses are still habitable," continued Katzinger, who was just able to prevent the flames from spreading to the living areas with his team.

The Red Cross was also on site with its crisis intervention team and looked after seven people. Fortunately, no one was physically injured in the blaze. This was also due to the fact that the fire department managed to get an elderly couple out of one of the two adjoining residential buildings in time.

Extinguishing water in slurry barrels
The firefighters also faced challenges with the extinguishing water supply. "Farmers brought water in slurry barrels," Katzinger reports of the great willingness to help.