Even Cobra moved in

Danger of explosion at Nagelsmann building in Tyrol

A tricky operation took place at the construction site of German national soccer coach Julian Nagelsmann.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) Feuerwehr Fieberbrunn )

A burning gas cylinder caused an operation in Fieberbrunn in the Tyrolean lowlands, including the Cobra special police unit. It turned out to be a celebrity builder: Julian Nagelsmann, coach of the German national soccer team. 

Nagelsmann invested a whopping 1.75 million euros in a total of 1000 m² of land including an old property in Fieberbrunn. It currently has to make way for a luxurious new building and construction work is in full swing.

Heavy breathing protection required
A gas cylinder caught fire during fire-fighting work in the cellar at around 2.30 pm on Thursday. "Actually, only the hose was affected," explains fire department group commander Hubert Wörgötter. Wearing heavy breathing protection, he and his comrades cooled the cylinder and turned off the gas flow, keeping a close eye on the temperature with a thermal imaging camera. 

When it was safe enough to do so, the Floriani team carried the gas cylinder outside and cooled it down further - the operation was actually over.

This gas cylinder caught fire.(Bild: Feuerwehr Fieberbrunn)

The fire department cooled the cylinder, and it was not necessary for the Cobra officers to fire on it.(Bild: Feuerwehr Fieberbrunn)

Crucial: propane gas or acetylene filling?
The most important question in such operations: Is it a propane gas or acetylene filling? "Acetylene is much more dangerous, the cylinder gets hotter and hotter due to chemical reactions," explains the specialist from the fire department.

Acetylene is much more dangerous, the cylinder gets hotter and hotter due to chemical reactions

Feuerwehr-Gruppenkommandant Hubert Wörgötter

"Helicopter transfer with three officers"
The police, who were also alerted, mistakenly assumed this more dangerous variant. "It was therefore assumed that there could be a risk of explosion," says police spokesman Stefan Eder. The procedure for such dangerous situations involves a Cobra deployment request: "This was followed by a helicopter transfer with three officers," explains Harald Gonner, head of the Cobra/West task force.

In such cases, acetylene cylinders are rendered harmless by firing at them, as the holes relieve the pressure. This was no longer necessary here and the excitement was quickly over.