Vienna-Ottakring: Pyromaniac sets fire again in his own apartment!

Vienna-Ottakring: Pyromaniac sets fire again in his own apartment!

On the night of June 15, 2025, a well-known pyromaniac lit another fire in his apartment in Vienna-Ottakring. The police were alerted at 5:15 a.m. when residents in the apartment building on the Lerchenfelder thing smelled smoke and called the emergency number. The Vienna professional fire brigade was quickly on the scene and was able to start extinguishing the fire before the situation deteriorated further.

Although there were fortunately no injuries, several residents were forced to leave their homes due to the heavy smoke. They were looked after by the rescue team, while the suspected perpetrator, a 46-year-old Austrian, confessed his crime on the spot. The man confessed that he had an internal urge to set things on fire, indicating a possible mental illness. He had already been convicted of arson three times and had served prison time in the past. When he was arrested, his alcohol level was found to be just under 1.5 per mille.

Previous offenses and mental illness

This is not the first such incident for the 46-year-old. On October 14, 2022, he had already started a fire in the basement of a residential building on Thaliastrasse, which resulted in a large-scale operation by the professional fire department. In this incident, 15 residents had to be evacuated and several people were taken to hospital with suspected smoke poisoning. Also in January 2023, he lit a Christmas tree at a church, leading to his arrest when he came out of the church in his underpants and claimed he was "a Jesus" while dancing around officers. These repeated series of fires shed light on his complex psychological profile, which is reported to be characterized by paranoid schizophrenia.

Psychiatric experts concluded that he was not mentally competent at the time of his crimes. The danger posed by him can therefore be classified as high. Psychiatric care and placement in a forensic therapeutic center were ordered, but the man shows no insight into his behavior and expresses distrust of specialists.

The role of mental health

These incidents raise fundamental questions about the prevention of mental illness. Experts, including Prof. Dr. med. Arno Deister, emphasize the need for preventive measures for the early detection and treatment of mental disorders. Symptoms often appear up to five years before initial contact, with social inequality identified as one of the risk factors. Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, often manifest in the first four decades of life but often remain undetected. Early interventions could be crucial to prevent such dangerous behaviors and improve the quality of life of those affected. The question remains how efficiently the existing systems work in the early detection of mental illnesses.

The property damage caused by the current fire is estimated at several tens of thousands of euros. The fire team of the Vienna State Criminal Police Office has taken over the investigation. The man, who is considered to be mentally ill, was temporarily arrested and taken to a prison where he faces the new charge of arson. His case highlights the ongoing challenge of adequately treating mental illnesses and protecting society from the dangers of such illnesses.