Waldbrand in Semriach in Graz: More Tage Löscharbeiten erwartet

Around 100 firefighters were deployed on Friday to fight a forest fire in Semriach (district of Graz), and 100 others were on standby. They were supported by helicopters. The fire, which broke out Thursday evening, affected an area of ​​approximately two and a half hectares of difficult and steep terrain. Six people were slightly injured. Firefighting operations are expected to last longer, according to firefighters. The cause of the fire was initially unclear.

A motorist driving along Semriacherstraße (L318) noticed the forest fire on Thursday evening around 9 p.m. and alerted the emergency services. Early in the morning, 18 firefighters with more than 40 vehicles and two fire drones were deployed, and the police, Red Cross and mountain rescue were on site. An investigation was opened into the causes of the fire and an investigator was called. Around midday, around 100 rescue workers were deployed, “another 100 are on standby,” Herbert Buchgraber of the Graz District Firefighters’ Association told the APA on Friday.

“Fire suppression” could not be declared even on Friday afternoon, “but good progress has been made. Now firefighting operations can also take place from the air,” said Buchgraber. After initially requesting helicopters from the Austrian army, these were on standby in the afternoon as three police helicopters had been deployed first.

In the first two days, there were already six rescuers with minor injuries: “Five were taken to the hospital with suspicion of smoke inhalation. They were treated as an outpatient,” Buchgraber described in an interview with the APA in the afternoon. Another rescuer suffered a hand injury from falling rocks. The district fire commander, Gernot Rieger, was on duty from the start and praised the work of the assistants. “The terrain on which the fire broke out is quite steep and therefore puts a lot of pressure on the emergency services,” Rieger said.

Investigations into the causes of the fire are expected to begin Friday afternoon, according to police.

This article has been machine translated, read the original article here.