
In a hotel in Carinthia, a fire broke out early Thursday morning at a sauna stove in the basement. 390 people had to evacuate the accommodation in Tröpolach in the Hermagor district, the police reported in a statement. Five people were treated at the scene by paramedics for suspected smoke inhalation, and four Danish tourists were taken to a hospital but were already released by the afternoon.
The fire started around 11:15 PM in a sauna. The fire alarm went off, prompting the hotel owner and two of his guests to make initial attempts to extinguish the flames using hand-held fire extinguishers in the already heavily smoke-filled area. Several teams from the fire department then extinguished the fire. In total, six fire departments with eleven vehicles and 92 emergency responders were involved, with the Red Cross on-site with three vehicles.
Radiant Heat Caused Smoldering at Sauna Stove
All hotel guests—who included Danish student groups and their teachers—were able to leave the building on their own. They waited in their buses and in a gymnasium for the duration of the firefighting operation. By around 1:00 AM, they were allowed to return to their rooms. By Thursday afternoon, all those who had been taken to the hospital had been discharged, a spokesperson for the Kabeg company confirmed to APA.
The cause of the heavy smoke was a smoldering fire in the area of the electrically operated sauna stove, according to a police spokesperson. The likely cause was radiant heat, the Carinthian police reported later in the afternoon. The extent of the damage was not yet determined on Thursday.