Fire destroyed barn

Calves and cows died in farm fire

The flames were visible from afar and not all the animals could be rescued from the barn

(Bild: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / SIMON BRANDSTÄTTER)

Alarm level 3! Despite a lack of extinguishing water, firefighters were able to rescue animals from a burning barn in the Mühlviertel during the night after the milking robot alerted the farmer to the fire. However, some calves and cows lost their lives in the fire. The cause of the fire was a heat lamp.

It was an hour before midnight on Friday night when the sirens sounded. Flames were blazing in a barn on a farm in St. Georgen am Walde. The emergency services immediately raised the alert level, as the glow of the flames could be seen from afar: the barn was already fully engulfed in flames.

Wife, child and parents awakened
Shortly beforehand, the farmer (32) had noticed the flames after the milking robot had informed him by text message that the power had failed. When the Mühlviertler went to see what was going on, he noticed the fire. He alerted the fire department and got his wife, child and parents out of bed - they were able to escape outside unharmed.

Fighting through flames
13 fire departments with 190 firefighters arrived and, in addition to extinguishing the fire, had to try to get more than 140 cows and calves out of the danger zone. Numerous breathing apparatus teams fought their way through the flames to save the animals. Despite the rapid and comprehensive intervention of the fire department, around 40 of the animals died in the flames. The rescued animals were taken to other stables and transported away by truck.

Problems with extinguishing water
The supply of extinguishing water was initially a major challenge, as the helpers only had access to the water they had brought themselves in their tankers. "But with three long supply lines, we were finally able to bring enough water to the scene," reported Peter Spiegl, head of operations and commander of the St. Georgen am Walde fire brigade.

Heat lamp was the cause of the fire
One barn was completely destroyed by the fire and two other barns were partially destroyed, but the helpers, who had arrived from Upper and Lower Austria, were able to prevent the flames from reaching the living area of the farm. Because the farm was equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the damage to property nevertheless amounted to several million euros.

The cause of the fire was a faulty heat lamp that was supposed to warm a newborn calf. Fortunately, no one was injured in the devastating fire.