Fire in the Vinzenzheim in Egg in 2008
The major fire of the Vinzenzheim in Egg on February 8, 2008 was one of the largest fire disasters in Austria after the fire disaster of the Kaprun 2 glacier lift in 2000 and the largest fire accident in Vorarlberg since 1875. The fire in the senior citizens' home in the Bregenzerwald community of Egg came to eleven people on the day of the accident died from smoke inhalation, and another person died eight days later in hospital. Once the fire has been determined, the trigger for the fire is assumed to be easily flammable material in a garbage can in the retirement home.
chronology
According to the fire investigation, the fire should have broken out between 6:35 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. in a garbage station in the corridor between the toilets and the chapel. At this point in time, there were still 25 people in the building, including 23 residents and 2 carers. At 6.41 p.m. the first emergency call was received by the rescue and fire brigade control center (RFL) in Feldkirch . Just seven minutes later, the first vehicles from the Egg volunteer fire brigade arrived at the fire site. At this time, all fire brigades in the Mittelwald region (Egg, Egg-Großdorf, Andelsbuch, Schwarzenberg, Müselbach, Alberschwende, Reuthe and Bezau) as well as all available paramedics and emergency doctors in the region were alerted. From 6:50 p.m., they arrived at the scene of the accident every minute. To 19:04 also was body armor vehicle of firefighters Bregenz City for direct refilling of Breathing Apparatus requested. About 25 minutes after the first alert, 240 firefighters with 24 vehicles were on site. At 7:28 p.m., when the extent of the accident became foreseeable, the Vorarlberg crisis intervention and emergency pastoral care was notified. When the fire was finally brought under control around 9 p.m., it became clear that it was one of the worst fire accidents in the history of Austria. That same evening, Governor Herbert Sausgruber , several regional councilors and Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who happened to be in Vorarlberg, arrived at the scene of the accident. Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer as well as Federal President Heinz Fischer expressed his concern from Vienna.
On the following day, February 9, fire investigators from the State and Federal Criminal Police Office began to look for the cause of the fire. At a press conference held at 5 p.m., the cause of the fire and the preliminary number of dead and injured were officially confirmed. Of the 25 people originally in the building at the time the fire broke out, eleven could only be rescued dead, six people were seriously injured. The other six residents of the old people's home and the two carers remained unharmed, but had to be looked after by the crisis intervention team. Eight days after the accident, a 92-year-old woman who had been rescued died as a result of smoke poisoning in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Dornbirn . The total number of deaths increased to twelve people.
On February 13, a funeral service took place in the parish church of Egg , at which the dead were officially bid farewell. Around 1,000 mourners turned up to attend mass, but only 700 of them found space in the church itself. The traditional burning of the bonfire was canceled the day after the accident both in Egg itself and in the neighboring communities of Schwarzenberg and Andelsbuch.
Effects and Consequences
As the first direct effect of the fire in Egg, Governor Herbert Sausgruber ordered an immediate special review of the fire protection measures in all retirement homes in the state on February 11th. This started on Thursday, February 14th, in the old people's homes in Andelsbuch and Bizau. The inspections were carried out by two-man teams and the final report was handed over directly to the governor. In the final report, the fire protection measures in eight of the 49 homes checked were rated as “insufficient”.
After the first results of the fire investigation became known, according to which the fire was triggered by easily flammable material, presumably cigarette ash, the public prosecutor's office also started investigations into negligent causing a fire resulting in death (Section 170 (2 ) StGB ). The investigation was initially directed against unknown persons. On June 13th, the final report of the fire investigation was handed over to the public prosecutor's office. Ultimately, the investigations were discontinued on September 2, 2008 by the Feldkirch public prosecutor's office. There was no evidence of criminal negligent behavior. Even who threw the fire-causing material into the laundry basket could no longer be determined. According to a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, the arsonist probably died in the accident. The prosecution classifies the events as a “tragic accident for which no one can be held criminally responsible”.
The rapid and, in the opinion of the responsible fire brigade commanders, professional intervention by the emergency services met with general approval. The rescue and fire brigade control center, which enabled the alarm to be raised quickly, was also praised. The fact that, despite the rapid arrival of the fire brigade on site, a considerable number of fatalities was to be mourned due to the heavy smoke development in the building, which made it difficult for the emergency services to move forward in the building.
Structural conditions
The building in which Egg's retirement home is housed belonged to the old town center and was 140 years old at the time of the fire. The Bregenz district administration carried out controls before the fire in 2003 and 2006, and no major defects were found. In addition, there were fire brigade exercises in the building in 2004 and 2007, including rescuing people from the building.
After the fire, experts demonstrated the lack of a comprehensive installation of fire alarms , whereupon the state of Vorarlberg responded with an inspection of all old people's homes in the state to determine whether they were fire safe.
Four days after the fire, Mayor Norbert Fink announced that the building, which caught fire, should be demolished because it was completely uninhabitable and replaced by a new social center. The demolition of the building structure began on May 26th, and more than three years later, on October 23rd, 2011, the new Egg social center was opened. As a reminder of the fire accident, the new house chapel of the social center was christened Vinzenzkapelle and used in this bell and statues of saints from the old house chapel.
Web links
- Detailed reporting by ORF on the major fire in Egg.
- The day that changed Egg . Article in the Vorarlberger Nachrichten of February 8, 2013.
- Mission report on Fireworld.at
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chronology of the processes on the Vorarlberg Online website .
- ^ Findings from the press conference in the ORF report.
- ↑ Twelfth fatality after fire disaster , article by ORF Vorarlberg from February 16, 2008.
- ^ Moving farewell to the dead , article by ORF Vorarlberg from February 13, 2008.
- ↑ Fire protection in eight homes not sufficient , article by ORF Vorarlberg dated May 6, 2008.
- ^ Public prosecutor's office determined according to Brand , article of ORF Vorarlberg from February 13, 2008.
- ↑ Investigations into the fire disaster stopped , article by ORF Vorarlberg dated September 2, 2008.
- ^ ORF Vorarlberg: New social center planned in Egg , article from February 12, 2008.
- ^ ORF Vorarlberg: New social center in Egg opens . Article dated October 15, 2011.
Coordinates: 47 ° 25 ′ 43 " N , 9 ° 53 ′ 42.2" E