Apartment burnt out

Man was handling fuel and smoking next to it

What could possibly go wrong? That's probably what a heavily intoxicated 34-year-old man from Wolfsberg thought on Saturday morning as he poured fuel into a bottle and smoked next to it.

The man apparently wanted to refuel his chainsaw - which is why he was handling fuel in the early hours of Saturday morning in an apartment building in Wolfsberg. "He wanted to fill a bottle with it. He spilled some of the mixture and wanted to wipe it up again. A piece of ember from the cigarette fell to the floor. There was an immediate flash fire," said the police. "The 34-year-old tenant, his 27-year-old girlfriend and a 23-year-old guest were able to quickly leave the apartment on the first floor with their dog, which was immediately engulfed in flames." The Wolfsberg fire department was alerted at 4.18 am and immediately deployed to the scene. They were supported by the St. Margarethen and St. Johann fire departments. 

"The Wolfsberg fire brigade's breathing apparatus team also carried out an interior attack using a high-pressure line and localized the source of the fire," reports district fire commander Christoph Gerak. "The fire was quickly brought under control." The 35 firefighters then took furnishings outside to prevent the fire from spreading further. The fire was extinguished after just over an hour and the firefighters were able to return after three hours.