Forgotten cooking pot

Fire department rescues sleeping man from apartment

According to the police, the man was initially unresponsive and presumably uninjured (symbolic image).

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

The fire department probably saved the life of a man near Feldkirch in Vorarlberg on Sunday. They brought him to safety from his completely smoke-filled apartment, where they had found him sleeping. The man had probably forgotten a saucepan on the stove.

The rescue operation was triggered by an alarm from another resident. The resident told the rescue and fire department control center that a smoke alarm had been sounding in the apartment for some time, but that no one was answering the doorbell or knocking.

Smell of burning even before the front door
When the door to the apartment, which was locked from the inside, was forced open, the emergency services noticed smoke and a strong smell of burning, and a breathing apparatus unit from the Rankweil fire department was able to locate and rescue the sleeping man.

Refusal of medical care
The cause of the smoke was quickly identified: The man had forgotten two eggs in a saucepan on the stove and had gone to sleep.

According to the police, the man was initially unresponsive and presumably uninjured - he refused medical treatment.