Fire caused by wood stove

Father rescues daughter and cat from flames

60 firefighters from five fire brigades were deployed to a fire in Maria Neustift in Upper Austria on Sunday night, which is believed to have broken out in the area of a wood-burning stove. The homeowner noticed the flames and was able to escape outside with his daughter and cat.

Throughout the day, a 53-year-old man is said to have been firing up a small wood-burning stove in the kitchen of his detached house in Maria Neustift. When he noticed smoke in the room at around 11 p.m., he poured a bucket of water over the embers as a precaution.

Fire department notified
An hour later, the room was so filled with smoke that it could no longer be entered. The homeowner alerted the emergency services and fled outside with his 15-year-old daughter and the cat.

Flames prevented from spreading
"The kitchen was on fire, flames were blazing out of the window," reports Martin Scharrer from the Maria Neustift fire department. While ten breathing apparatus teams brought the furnishings outside and removed the wooden ceiling, the fire was fought from the outside via the windows. This prevented the flames from spreading to the façade.