Car in flames

Automatically saved draft

The two Energie Steiermark employees drove past the scene of the accident at the right time.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Energie Steiermark BFV Deutschlandsberg)

On Tuesday evening, two project technicians from Energie Steiermark became lifesavers. As they were driving along the B 69 in Soboth (Deutschlandsberg district), they noticed the crashed car of a 47-year-old man. Without further ado, the 25-year-old pulled the unconscious man out of the vehicle, which soon burst into flames.

It was around 5 p.m. when a 47-year-old man from the Deutschlandsberg district was driving his car on the B 69 from Soboth towards Eibiswald. The fatal accident happened on a long left-hand bend: for reasons as yet unexplained, he left the road on the right and crashed into a tree. A few seconds later, the car was already on fire.

Becoming lifesavers on the way home
Just at this point, two Energie Steiermark employees, Marlene Sapotnig and Alexander Goriupp, drove past the scene of the accident. "We were on our way home from an inspection of the Soboth wind farm project in Eibiswald," says Goriupp. As they drove past, they heard a faint blaze between the dense fog, so they turned around. Then everything happened very quickly: "We drove the car to the site, my colleague called the emergency services and I ran to the vehicle, where the engine compartment was already on fire."

The sooty car had to be towed away.(Bild: BFV Deutschlandsberg)

It turned out to be a stroke of luck that the 25-year-old from the Graz-Umgebung district is a fire department paramedic in Seiersberg. "The man was unconscious. I felt him with my fingers in the smoke-filled car and undid his seatbelt," says Goriupp. He pulled the injured man out of the car with a rescue handle - "a minute later it was on fire". But the man was rescued and was brought back to consciousness by the two helpers.

Two fire departments rushed to the scene
The ambulance then took the 47-year-old to the intensive care unit at Deutschlandsberg Regional Hospital. "The thanks from the relatives and also from the local community were huge - he wouldn't have had a chance without us," says the 25-year-old. He learned from those around him that the injured man was out of danger and had escaped with a few broken bones. "I'm in the fire department, but I've never been in a situation like this before," he says with relief.

The St. Oswald and Soboth volunteer fire departments were able to extinguish the fire completely with 20 firefighters. They were in action for two hours and had to close the main road for a short time. Somewhat later, an alcohol test was carried out on the injured man: He was probably heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident.