Arrest in Tyrol

Ex-Floriani set the fire at the fire station himself

The firefighters extinguishing the last pockets of embers.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

Hard to believe: a former firefighter (31) is the burglar and arsonist at the fire station in Münster in Tyrol last Friday. The man arrested in Hall was particularly brazen in his actions.

At around 5 a.m. on Friday, the firefighters from the Unterland community had to respond to a fire in their own four walls. A stranger had broken into the fire station, stolen cash and started a fire.

But he couldn't enjoy his loot for long. The 31-year-old local man was already in handcuffs in Hall on Saturday evening. He confessed and is now in Innsbruck prison.

The Münster fire station was the target of an arson attack.(Bild: zoom.tirol)

Suspect had an argument with his partner
The background to the crime is unusual. "The man had an argument with his partner and then drove to Münster in a company car," explains Richard Hotter, commander of the Kramsach police station. There he decided to break into the fire station.

He was a member of our fire department from 2005 to 2017 - starting with the youth fire department. Then he moved away. And now he's burning down his own place - what more can you say?

Marco Ludl, Kommandant Feuerwehr Münster

"He didn't give a motive, he also claimed that the door wasn't locked," says Hotter. However, the police assume that he forced his way into the building.

He was very familiar with this, as the perpetrator was himself a member of the Münster fire department for many years. "He used a crowbar to remove the safe from the wall and took it to the car. Then he went back again and set fire to the command room to cover his tracks," said the police chief. The firebug also set fire to cotton gloves.

The man had an argument with his partner and then drove to Münster in a company car.

Richard Hotter, Kommandant Polizei Kramsach

Safe and crowbar thrown into the Inn
He then drove to Hall and threw the safe - which had been emptied in the meantime - and the crowbar into the Inn. However, the thief did not have a good weekend. At 6.10 p.m. on Saturday, the police arrested him in the garden of his apartment in Hall.

A waiter's wallet from the fire department was found in the company car. Of the loot - thousands of euros - only a three-digit euro amount was left. Nevertheless, a fire department ATM card was found in the purse.

Driving without a license
Incidentally, he did not have a driver's license. He presented his boss with a false "license". Marco Ludl, commander of the Münster fire brigade, can't believe that the perpetrator used to be a member of his own ranks. "I wouldn't have put it past him," says Ludl.