Man stops house fire with seven extinguishers

A man used seven fire extinguishers to contain a house fire in Weißkirchen, in Styria’s Murtal district, on Friday evening, ORF reported. Three people went to hospital for medical checks.

The 34-year-old part-time farmer was working in a barn when the power went out at about 8pm. He went inside and found a fire in the living room on the first floor. His 29-year-old partner and their nine-month-old child were upstairs. The woman first took the child onto a balcony, then followed her partner’s instructions to escape through the smoke-filled stairwell.

The man tackled the fire with seven handheld extinguishers and had brought it under control by the time the Weißkirchen fire brigade arrived.

Investigators said a chimney on the first floor had been sealed with a presswood board, probably several years ago. The board had worn down over time, allowing hot air from the chimney to ignite it. Children’s toys then caught fire, and the heat damaged the living room.

The Red Cross took the woman and child to the Leoben branch of LKH Hochsteiermark hospital. The man went to the Knittelfeld branch of LKH Murtal hospital on his own.