An 80-year-old man from south-eastern Styria died early on Friday evening in a forest fire he probably caused. The pensioner had gathered up leaves in a wooded area near Gnas and then set them on fire. Neighbors noticed the smoke and looked to find the charred body. An autopsy was ordered to determine the cause of death. The police do not assume third-party debt, as was announced on Saturday.
emergency services alerted
The fire broke out on Friday for reasons that have not yet been fully clarified. Around 5 p.m., a neighbor noticed heavy smoke from the dry mixed forest below a meadow orchard. He went to check with his son and son-in-law. They found an apparently male and already heavily charred body. They alerted the emergency services.
The fire covered an area of around 6,000 square meters in some steep terrain. Around 110 firefighters from a total of 14 surrounding fire departments quickly brought the flames under control. However, embers and glowing tree stumps and rootstocks had to be extinguished until the early hours of the morning.
