Great fire in the waste paper warehouse: Fire brigade fights with a blazing danger!

Am 19. Juni 2025 brach ein Großbrand im Altpapierlager in Pitten, Niederösterreich, aus. 450 Feuerwehrleute bekämpfen das Feuer.
On June 19, 2025, a major fire broke out in the waste paper warehouse in Pitten, Lower Austria. 450 firefighters fight the fire. (Symbolbild/DNAT)

Great fire in the waste paper warehouse: Fire brigade fights with a blazing danger!

On June 19, 2025, a waste paper camp on the site of a paper mill in Pitten, district of Neunkirchen, Lower Austria, occurred. According to 5min.at the fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon and ensured a massive use of the fire brigade.

Around 450 firefighters were mobilized to master the flames. In the fire, which mainly affected pressed paper bales, extensive extinguishing effort was required. The emergency services had to be in use for several hours; A "massive use of water" was necessary to contain the spread of fire. The firefighters received support from wheel loaders and forklifts that were used to pull the paper bales apart, and through a helicopter of a private company that carried out water drops.

protective measures and challenges

Protective measures were taken to protect an adjacent forest from the flames. Nevertheless, the current status of the extinguishing work remains uncertain; An end is not foreseeable for the time being.

The challenge that firefighters had to cope with under the given circumstances is reminiscent of similar incidents in the past. For example, on November 10, 2015, a fire occurred in a paper mill in Ettringen, the cause of which was due to a technical defect in the "bale breaker". Corcing paper was distributed over a conveyor belt. The fire alarm and sprinkler systems were activated, and numerous fire departments from the region had to be alerted to combat fire. Over 200 helpers, including the fire brigade, police and emergency services, were on duty. The damage incurred was around 100,000 euros, and two employees suffered slight smoke poisoning that required hospitalization. The end of the end was at 10:02 p.m. after the fire was brought under control, but was needed for several hours for the search for embers, as was documented on Feuerwehrnachnach.de

causes of fire and safety aspects

fires in paper storage houses can have catastrophic consequences, which underlines the importance of preventive security measures. According to an analysis of the , technical defects and the wrong storage of flammable materials are frequent causes of such incidents. These statistics illustrate that timely maintenance and regular checks can make a significant contribution to avoiding such tragedies.

The incidents in Pitten and Ettringen impressively show which challenges fire brigade and emergency services have to manage to ensure fire protection and safety in industrial plants.

Details
OrtPitten, Niederösterreich, Österreich
Quellen