153 firefighters battle blaze at commercial building in Murtal district

Situation at the scene

A total of 153 "Florianis" from fire departments in Feistritz, Knittelfeld, Kobenz, Spielberg, Seckau, St. Margarethen, St. Lorenzen, Apfelberg, St. Marein-Feistritz, and other units were on site. The incident commander had initially expected around 130 personnel; the actual number ended up being higher.

The central challenge for the emergency crews was the water supply for firefighting. Since only limited water was available at the scene itself, the "Florianis" set up a shuttle service using tank fire engines. A total of around 80,000 liters of extinguishing water had to be transported to the scene in this way.

Water supply as the key

In addition to the burning commercial building, the departments also focused their attention on an adjacent residential building. According to Hartensteiner, one of the first measures taken by the emergency crews was to protect this building from burning fully. "Dank des schnellen und gezielten Einsatzes" this was also successful.

The Red Cross was also on site to assist in providing care for any potential injured persons. No information about possible personal injuries was initially available. The Knittelfeld regional fire department association praised the coordinated cooperation of the departments involved.

Cause of fire and consequences

There was initially no information available about the cause of the fire or the extent of the property damage. The emergency crews secured the scene, and mop-up operations extended into the early morning hours.

The incident underscores the importance of mutual aid across municipalities in the Styrian district of Murtal: ten fire departments from several municipalities had to work together in a coordinated manner to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings.

The incident command explicitly thanked all the departments involved for their swift and targeted operation, which prevented worse from happening. The shuttle service using tank fire engines proved indispensable during the critical phase.