Courageous intervention

Courageous helpers prevent car inferno on highway

Alexander Paulus acted quickly.(Bild: FF Schwechat, Krone KREATIV)

Dangerous scenes took place on the airport highway near Schwechat in Lower Austria: Shortly before 8 a.m., thick smoke suddenly billowed out of the engine compartment of a car. The driver reacted quickly and correctly - and he was not the only one!

When the driver noticed the smoke early on Friday morning, he immediately parked his car on the emergency lane. Not a second too soon! Because as soon as he came to a standstill, flames were already shooting out of the vehicle's engine compartment. Courageous first responders noticed the fire and rushed to help just a few moments later.

The fire was extinguished before the flames could spread from the engine compartment to the entire vehicle.(Bild: FF Schwechat)

Firefighter in civilian clothes as rescuer
Among them was Schwechat firefighter Alexander Paulus: "I noticed a column of smoke on my way to work. Together with other first responders, we reacted quickly and used the fire extinguishers from our private car to put out the incipient fire. We were able to prevent the flames from spreading and the vehicle from catching fire!"

This operation proves once again how important it is to carry a fire extinguisher in your own vehicle.

Schwechats Feuerwehrkommandant Maximilian Puhane

Just a few minutes later, the Schwechat and Mannswörth volunteer fire departments were called to the vehicle fire on the A4. Thanks to the dedicated intervention of the first responders, the uninformed comrades' work was limited to recovering the vehicle.