Battery was to blame

Residents rescued from burning apartment building in Vienna

Huge flames burst out of a window of an apartment in Vienna-Währing on Tuesday night. A fire may have broken out in a room there while a battery was being charged. Because the apartment building was so heavily filled with smoke, the residents had to be rescued by the Vienna Fire Department. Two people were injured in the incident.

The emergency call was received by the Vienna Fire Department shortly after 2 a.m. on Tuesday: A room fire had broken out in Antonigasse in Währing. While the two occupants were able to escape from the burning apartment, the emergency services on site became aware of numerous residents standing at their windows asking for help.

Apartment door had already burned through
Because the fire spread quickly and the apartment door to the stairwell had already burned through, the fire was immediately fought with a firefighting line under breathing apparatus from the stairwell and a second firefighting line from the street.

Residents had to be rescued
The smoke from the fire was then forced out of the building. In the meantime, fire crews used escape filter hoods to bring endangered residents to safety from their smoke-filled apartments via the stairwell. Two people had to be rescued using the turntable ladder. The two occupants of the apartment that caught fire were taken to hospital after the incident and suffered injuries. 

Antonigasse also had to be closed off during the operation, which lasted until 4.20 am.