Attempted to Put Out the Fire

Tenant Emerged from Burning Apartment with a Soot-Stained Face

The spectacular apartment fire broke out on the second floor at Bethlehemstraße 9a.(Bild: BFW Linz)

He barely managed to escape his burning apartment: At 6 a.m., a 45-year-old man from Linz, suffering from burn injuries and covered in soot, guided the professional fire department to the scene. He had already attempted to extinguish the fire himself. The tenant, another person, and a firefighter were injured.

On Saturday morning, the Linz professional fire department was called to a residential fire on the second floor at Bethlehemstraße 9a. The resident managed to escape his apartment just in time and then attempted to extinguish the fire himself with a fire extinguisher before guiding the firefighters to the scene. He was found covered in soot and suffering from burn injuries and was subsequently handed over to emergency medical services.

The professional fire department required a turntable ladder.(Bild: BFW Linz)

Flames were shooting out of the windows
At that point, flames were already shooting out of a window facing the inner courtyard as well as from another window facing Bethlehemstraße. A breathing apparatus team immediately laid a fire hose through the stairwell and began fighting the fire inside the apartment.

The spectacular apartment fire had broken out on the second floor at 9a Bethlehemstraße.(Bild: BFW Linz)

Thick clouds of smoke poured out of the windows.(Bild: BFW Linz)

At the same time, two additional fire hoses were set up outside to prevent the fire from spreading to the building’s facade or the apartment above.

At the same time, a second breathing apparatus team inspected the other apartments. Since the stairwell remained smoke-free at all times, only the two residents from the apartment above the one where the fire started were evacuated to safety and handed over to emergency medical services. All other residents were able to remain in their apartments.

This is what it looked like after the fire in the apartment.(Bild: BFW Linz)

Once the fire was under control, the turntable ladder was positioned outside to inspect the facade. In the process, the exterior insulation and finish system was opened.

During the fire investigation conducted by an expert and detectives from the Linz Criminal Investigation Division, the origin of the fire was narrowed down to the area around the couch. It is highly likely that the fire was caused by an ignition source—such as a cigarette that had been extinguished.