Operation on the "South"

Batteries ignited: Fire in the hazardous goods truck

The Preitenegg fire brigade was called out to a hazardous goods fire on the Südautobahn on Thursday.(Bild: FF Preitenegg)

While driving on the southern highway on Thursday afternoon, a Bosnian truck driver noticed smoke rising from his trailer. The particularly dangerous thing in this case was that he was carrying hazardous goods. 

At around 2.50 p.m. on Thursday, the 42-year-old was driving a semitrailer loaded with hazardous goods on the Südautobahn in the direction of Vienna. At the Twimberg parking lot, the Bosnian driver noticed smoke developing in the area of the trailer, which is why he immediately stopped there and uncoupled the semitrailer truck from the trailer.

Danger zone secured immediately
The man secured the area around the semi-trailer and instructed other drivers to leave the danger zone immediately. "The Wolfsberg, Bad St. Leonhard and Preitenegg volunteer fire departments were notified and a patrol from the provincial traffic department with a specially trained officer, a heavy traffic control officer, was called in," says a police officer. 

Hazardous goods are always a special challenge in firefighting operations.(Bild: FF Preitenegg)

After two hours, the operation was over and Preitenegg was ready for action again.(Bild: FF Preitenegg)

Using breathing apparatus, the firefighters removed the tarpaulin from the truck, revealing the cause of the smoke. "There had been a chemical reaction of damaged batteries with heat development," according to the police.

The firefighters were able to quickly bring the fire under control. But that was not the end of their work: they still had to bind the contaminated extinguishing water and clean the road. There was no danger to other road users or the environment.