Dangerous Toy

Electric Hula Hoop Set a Room on Fire

Emergency responders in the smoke-filled apartment in the multi-family building...(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

A standard hula hoop was likely to blame for the fire in an apartment building in Schwaz in the Lower Inn Valley in Tyrol. Fortunately, the fire was contained without serious consequences, and no one was injured.

Many toys today contain electronics or batteries—both rechargeable and non-rechargeable—which pose a certain risk of fire. The residents of an apartment building on Swarovskistraße in Schwaz in the Lower Inn Valley learned this the hard way on Friday evening.

Room Fire on the Third Floor
Shortly after 9 p.m., the Schwaz City Fire Department was alerted to a room fire. The fire had broken out in an apartment on the third floor of the building.

Three people in the apartment
Three people were in the apartment when the fire broke out. They managed to evacuate on their own. The emergency responders, equipped with heavy-duty breathing apparatus, entered the apartment in question. Fortunately, the fire was confined to the room—believed to be the children’s room—where it broke out, and the firefighters were able to quickly extinguish it with hand-held fire extinguishers.

The fire department also succeeded in keeping the stairwell of the multi-story building smoke-free by immediately initiating positive pressure ventilation. The residents, who had initially been evacuated, were able to return to their apartments after about an hour.

Apartment Where Fire Broke Out Currently Uninhabitable
Fortunately, the people in the apartment where the fire broke out were unharmed; however, due to the heavy smoke inside, the apartment is currently uninhabitable.

Unusual cause of the fire
Initial investigations into the cause of the fire quickly revealed that a technical defect in a piece of play equipment was likely the cause of the fire. According to information from the “Krone,” the play equipment in question was a hula hoop...