Fire engulfs Lavanttal farmhouse, putting roof at risk

A large farmhouse was still ablaze Tuesday morning in Unterrainz, in the municipality of St Georgen im Lavanttal, with the fire threatening a nearby chicken coop. ORF reported that about 110 firefighters were tackling the blaze.

One person at the property managed to escape and was taken to hospital, according to the St Georgen fire brigade. Firefighters initially could not enter the building because the entire upper floor had burned out, and worked to contain the fire from outside. They later managed to move in.

The nearby chicken coop, which was full of chickens, lost power. Firefighters used an emergency generator to maintain its air supply.

Water was brought to the scene by tanker vehicles shuttling between the fire stations in St Georgen and St Paul, as well as from a swimming pool. Fire district commander Wolfgang Weißhaupt said the house was relatively large and the roof could collapse because the upper floor had burned out. The operation was expected to last several more hours.

Seven fire brigades were at the scene: St Georgen, St Paul, Maria Rojach, Ettendorf, Gemmersdorf, Lavamünd and Wolfsberg.