Sport boat fully ablaze on the Danube near Wallsee

Operation by FF Wallsee with the A-Boot

The operations commander of FF Wallsee, Markus Bruckner, reported on the course of the firefighting operations. The crew of the A-Boot had been able to fully extinguish the fire after a short time, it was said. The swift intervention also prevented the boat from sinking in the Danube. Bruckner spoke of a smoothly executed rescue and firefighting operation on the river.

In addition to FF Wallsee, the Sindelburg Volunteer Fire Department and the Langacker & Hütting Volunteer Fire Departments from Upper Austria were also dispatched with boats to the scene of operations. Their intervention was no longer required, however, nor was that of the Red Cross. A fire department vehicle also accompanied the operation from shore as a precaution.

Danube closure by the Grein Navigation Authority

The Grein Navigation Authority immediately closed the affected section of the Danube to ship traffic. This was intended to prevent other vessels from entering the area of the burning or drifting wreck. The stretch was expected to be reopened only after the firefighting and recovery operations had been completed.

After the successful extinguishing, the fully burned-out boat was towed by a working vessel to the Raderbauer Marina in Ardagger. On the way there, the crews had to carry out smaller mop-up operations several times, as pockets of embers kept reigniting. Two emergency vehicles and one vehicle from the Navigation Authority accompanied the tow convoy from shore, so that they could respond quickly to any renewed outbreak of fire.

Towing voyage to the Raderbauer Marina in Ardagger

Once it arrived at the destination harbor, the wreck was lifted out of the water by a crane. The Raderbauer Marina in Ardagger served as the salvage location. The completely destroyed sport boat is expected to be handed over to its owner or the insurance company after recovery, according to the fire department. No information on the amount of damage was initially available.

FF Wallsee returned to its fire station after an operation lasting roughly two hours, according to its own statements. The crews were satisfied with how things went. There were no indications of environmental pollution from leaked operating fluids, in particular fuel, mentioned in the available information; whether and to what extent fuel or oil entered the Danube remained unclear for the time being.

The boat skipper, who had saved himself by jumping into the water, was not injured according to the current state of knowledge. Nothing official was made known about his state of health after the jump into the river. Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing, according to sources close to the responding crews.

Cause of the fire still unclear

As of the evening, there were no confirmed findings on the question of how the fire could have started. The responsible authorities, including the Navigation Authority and the police, will investigate the incident. The exact cause of the fire can only be identified after these investigations have been completed.

Overall, the operation on the Danube was marked by a rapid response and good cooperation between multiple fire departments. The fact that neither the boat skipper nor any of the responding crews came to harm was expressly deemed a success by FF Wallsee. At the same time, the incident showed how quickly a boat fire on a river can develop into a serious safety risk when the vessel drifts away unoccupied.

Importance of well-equipped fireboats

For the residents along the Danube near Wallsee and in the downstream section, the brief closure of the waterway initially had no major effects. The closure affected the area around the site of the fire and was lifted again after the recovery operations had been completed. According to the Grein Navigation Authority, ship traffic on the Danube subsequently continued as planned.

The case throws a spotlight on the importance of well-equipped fireboats on the Danube. FF Wallsee, as one of the fire departments responsible for this section of the river, has its own A-Boot and can fight fires on the water with a mobile pump and water cannon. This specialized equipment had proven itself in the operation, it was said.

According to the fire department, the firefighting and the recovery of the wreck took a total of around two hours. The final investigations into the cause of the fire as well as a possible damage assessment are still pending. The editorial team will continue to follow the case and report when new findings become available.