Apartment in Innsbruck

Near tragedy due to forgotten cloth on the stove

The Innsbruck professional fire department was called to the fire (symbolic image).(Bild: Christof Birbaumer / Kronenzeitung)

The resident of an apartment building in Innsbruck had a stroke of luck on Tuesday evening: the 59-year-old had forgotten a tea towel on the stove, which started to burn. The fire department found two people in the smoke-filled apartment.

The professional fire department was called to the scene at around 6.30 pm. A neighbor had noticed the smell of burning in the stairwell. A tea towel had caught fire in the apartment in question, which the occupant, a 59-year-old local woman, had left on the stove.

Fire extinguished by itself
Fortunately, the fire had extinguished itself by the time the emergency services arrived at the apartment building. Nevertheless, the apartment was filled with smoke and had to be ventilated by the fire department.

Two people present examined for smoke inhalation
The emergency services also found a man and a woman (25 and 23) in the apartment. The emergency services examined the two locals for suspected smoke inhalation, but were able to give the all-clear: Both were uninjured.