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Villach fire department rescues residents from burning apartment building!
On June 26, 2025, the Villach fire department prevented a house fire in St. Leonhard. No injuries, cause determined.
Villach fire department rescues residents from burning apartment building!
On June 26, 2025 around 9:00 p.m., the Villach main fire station was alerted after a fire in the Villach-St. Leonhard a supposed fire in a garage with gas bottles was reported. The Vassach volunteer fire department and other fire departments from Zauchen and Landskron were also called in for this operation. The situation was particularly explosive because the tenant of the garage that was almost affected had already tried to put out the fire with a hand-held fire extinguisher, but without success. The fire threatened to spread to an adjacent apartment building, cutting off four residents from their apartment. In this emergency, the deployment of around 45 firefighters, supported by the Red Cross and the police, had its full effect.
Liberal use of heavy breathing apparatus and two fire lines helped bring the fire under control. At the same time, several compressed gas cylinders filled with non-flammable gases were recovered. Fortunately, no flammable gas cylinders were in danger. The Vassach fire department carried out another extinguishing attack on the east side of the building and applied extinguishing foam to the fire site. Success came quickly and “BRAND AUS” was announced a short time later. Fortunately, there were no injuries during the operation. After the smoke was removed from the building, the Landskron fire department checked the roof area for possible embers.
Cause of fire and investigation
The Villach police immediately began investigating the cause of the fire. In a parallel investigation, there had previously been a major fire in an apartment building on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, in which one person tragically died. The investigation revealed that the fire was caused by careless handling of smoking products, such as a cigarette or cigar. Evidence suggests that the deceased person may have caused the fire themselves, adding to the tragedy of the incident.
Such incidents highlight the challenges in fire protection. According to feuertrutz.de, the statistics on fires, causes of fires and the associated injuries and deaths in Germany are alarming. There is no comprehensive and uniform system for collecting this data, which makes it difficult to clearly analyze and improve fire protection measures. However, these statistics could make a difference in preventing future fires.
The events at hand are reminders of the importance of preventive fire protection and the right action in an emergency. In Villach, the past few days have shown that quick action and cooperation between emergency services are crucial to preventing anything worse from happening. It remains to be hoped that the findings from these operations will lead to greater awareness and prevention among both the population and the responsible institutions.
The emergency services in Villach were able to prevent something worse from happening thanks to their quick reaction and were also confronted with a further 17 missions during the extinguishing work due to storms in the region. This shows the strain that the fire department and other emergency services are exposed to, especially in times of crisis.