Strange coincidence

Empty building burns again in municipality

The second fire in a short space of time in a vacant farmstead makes the firefighters suspicious(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger © Daniel Scharinger)

An attentive neighbor was the first to raise the alarm. 15 fire departments battled the flames of a major fire in Burgkirchen on Thursday night and were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the residential building.

The fire broke out in a workshop on a farm at around 10 pm. When the fire department arrived, the roof truss was already in flames. A level three alarm was raised immediately. The farm was unoccupied. 15 fire departments with 250 helpers and 20 vehicles were deployed and had to lay five kilometers of lines, according to commander Bernhard Friedl. An extinguishing pond with 80 cubic meters of water was quickly emptied, another extinguishing pond with one hundred cubic meters of precipitation one kilometer away. It was only5 at 4 o'clock in the morning that the fire was out.

Striking "coincidence"
This is the second fire in a vacant building in Burgkirchen within eight days. On Wednesday night last week, an outbuilding of a vacant farm also went up in flames. "There are certain strange coincidences that just make us wonder," says Commander Friedl: "Each time a vacant building has burned. Twice it was in the workshop area, i.e. former farm buildings. The time frame is also similar; after all, just eight days passed between the first and second fire." The two fire sites are only three minutes away from each other by car. The investigation will show whether the fires were really set.