Fire in timber company

Dust explosion triggers fire in Abtenau

The turntable ladder was used for the fire operation.(Bild: FF Abtenau)

An "enormous dust explosion" inside a company's drying plant led to a fire and a fire department operation on Thursday, report the Abtenau emergency services. The fire was extinguished after six hours. But the alarm was raised again in the evening.

Shortly before midday, the Floriani firefighters rushed to the fire at a timber company in the Schratten industrial estate in Abtenau. Thick smoke was spreading across the company premises. Two breathing apparatus teams immediately began fighting the fire, according to the fire department's report. "The fire, which was caused by an enormous dust explosion inside the drying plant, was contained relatively quickly." Nevertheless, the fire spread to other parts of the plant, such as the filter system. 

The extinguishing work took several hours(Bild: FF Abtenau)

The fire was under control at around 4.30 pm. Three hours later, the fire department checked the building again and discovered new pockets of embers. Smoke spread again. After smoke was also detected from the 28-metre-high silo, the fire alarm was sounded again. After two hours, the remaining embers were extinguished. According to the fire department, a great deal of damage was caused. A police fire investigator is investigating the cause of the fire.