Linz resident injured in apartment fire

A resident was injured in an apartment fire in Linz on Saturday, ORF reported. The fire broke out in a second-floor apartment in a multi-apartment building on Bethlehemstraße.

The man managed to escape outside and tried to extinguish the fire himself. When firefighters arrived, flames were already coming from two windows. The resident was handed over to emergency medical services covered in soot and with burn injuries.

The Linz professional fire brigade deployed 24 firefighters and seven vehicles. One team wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire through the stairwell, while crews set up two additional water lines outside to prevent the flames from spreading to the building facade or the apartment above.

Stairwell remained smoke-free

A second team checked the other apartments. The stairwell remained smoke-free, according to the fire brigade, so only the residents of the apartment directly above the fire had to leave the building. Everyone else was able to remain in their apartments.

After the fire was brought under control, firefighters used an aerial ladder to inspect the facade. They partially opened the building’s external thermal insulation system to rule out hidden embers.

No other apartments were damaged, according to the professional fire brigade. The cause of the fire remains unclear and is under investigation. The operation began at about 6 a.m. and lasted around two and a half hours.