40 vacationers evacuated

Holidaymakers evacuated from burning hotel at night

Robert Ramsebner in front of his hotel.

(Bild: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR)

A fire alarm system may have prevented the worst from happening on Saturday night. It woke guests of a hotel in Vorderstoder (Upper Austria) at around two o'clock in the morning, who were able to leave the building in time. Nine fire departments were deployed to extinguish the fire and the hotel manager had to send all vacationers home.

The Landhotel Stockerwirt in Vorderstoder has been in existence for 361 years and is run by owner Robert Ramsebner and his brother in the 14th generation. On Saturday night, a fire broke out in the attic of the traditional hotel for unknown reasons; fire alarms presumably prevented anything worse.

Hotel manager was woken up
"I was lying in bed when I got the alarm on my cell phone. I immediately jumped into my car and raced up to the hotel, which only took a minute as I live right next door," says Ramsebner. The 40 hotel guests were woken by the internal alarm and some of them fled to the street in their bathrobes. They were temporarily housed in a nearby gym.

We had to send our guests home. As the entire restaurant area was flooded, we were unable to serve anyone.

Robert Ramsebner, Chef Landhotel Stockerwirt in Vorderstoder

Nine fire brigades in action
"I called the fire department straight away, then went up to the top floor because the alarms in the attic had gone off. But there was nothing in the upstairs rooms, it smelled a bit like smoke. By the time I was back outside, there was a crashing and banging noise," says the hotel operator. Nine fire departments with around 150 firefighters battled the fire until the early hours of the morning, and it was not until the afternoon that the fire was finally put out.

Extinguishing water frozen to black ice
Section commander Josef Bauer describes the operation: "The greatest challenges for the breathing apparatus wearers during the interior attack were the high heat development and the winding corridors in the old building. In addition, black ice had formed outside due to the cold. The water supply was also an issue; we had to lay three pipes, each 600 meters long."

We had to lay three water pipes, each 600 meters long. In the cold, the extinguishing water froze into black ice.

Josef Bauer, Abschnittskommandant der Feuerwehr

Glasses taken out of the room
Ramsebner is a member of the fire department himself and was in the rooms with his comrades the morning after the fire: "I looked to see what I could save for our guests, as they couldn't take anything with them. There were driving licenses, a tablet, keys and glasses."

Although the emergency services were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the new building, all guests had to leave. "The bar, reception and restaurant are floating. We can't serve anyone," says the hotelier. What happens now? "We have no idea yet."