Wanted to preheat sauna

Setting your own house on fire using an app

A large contingent of firefighters was deployed in Sankt Gerold on Saturday afternoon.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

The fact that modern technologies sometimes have their pitfalls was demonstrated in a drastic way on Saturday afternoon in the Großwalsertal municipality of Sankt Gerold: A homeowner wanted to preheat his sauna in his new home via an app - and was in for a nasty surprise. 

One swipe of his smartphone and shortly afterwards his house was on fire. This is what happened to a man from Vorarlberg who wanted to preheat his sauna via an app installed on his smartphone at around 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. But things were to take a very different turn: Because due to a technical defect in the sauna, the temperature became higher than desired - so high that the sweat lodge went up in flames. 

Around 130 firefighters were deployed.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

Neighbor alerted the fire department
Fortunately, an attentive neighbor noticed the billows of smoke at around 3.30 p.m. - he immediately alerted the fire department and then informed the shocked homeowner. When the firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire, the flames had already spread across a large part of the second floor. The firefighters were able to bring the fire under control quickly, but the damage to the property was still considerable. Doubly bitter: the house had only just been built. 

Firefighter taken to hospital as a precaution
During the extinguishing work, one firefighter was overexposed to the smoke and had to be taken to Bludenz regional hospital with suspected smoke inhalation. Otherwise, neither people nor animals were harmed.

Although the firefighters had sufficient breathing apparatus with them, one firefighter may still have inhaled too much smoke.

(Bild: Bernd Hofmeister)

130 firefighters in action
The fire departments from the municipalities of Raggal, Bludenz, Fontanella, Sonntag, Thüringerberg, Blons and St. Gerold were involved in the operation, with a total of around 130 firefighters on site.