Sailboat after buoy suddenly catches fire and runs aground near St. Heinrich

Status: 02.10.2023, 07:22 a.m.

By: Daniel Wegscheider

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Despite the rapid extinguishing of the water rescue and fire brigades, a sailboat on Lake Starnberg could not be saved, it sank to the bottom. © Wasserwacht Ammerland

Münsing/St. Heinrich – A sailboat near St. Heinrich caught fire, despite a quick extinguishing operation, the boat could not be saved.

On Tuesday afternoon (26 September), emergency services from water rescue services and fire brigades were alerted to a fire on Lake Starnberg. At the height of St. Heinrich, a sailboat caught fire – the cause is still unclear. It sank to the bottom of Lake Starnberg – where the answer to the question of the cause of the fire will probably remain.

Wasserwacht Ammerland immediately made its Ammerland 99/1 rescue boat available to the Ammerland fire brigade with crew to ship the portable pump to the scene. The fire was then quickly extinguished with the help of the Wolfratshausen and Tutzing water rescue service as well as the fire brigades from Bernried, Tutzing, Starnberg and Herrsching.

No people injured in the fire

A person rescue was, "thank God, not necessary," reports Julia Legen from the Ammerland water rescue service when asked. No information can currently be given about the cause of the fire.

The police are already investigating. However, it is difficult to determine the cause of the fire, as the boat is now lying at the bottom of the lake. "During the towing by the Bernried fire department, it sank because it was pretty much burned out," Legen continues.

How long the boat will slumber in the depths is unclear

Whether it will ever be brought back to the surface from there depends on the depth. "If the salvage costs are too high, it has to be left at the bottom." According to Legen, the police will decide on this. The water depth in the area of the buoy was about three meters.

"The cooperation between the local water rescue service and the fire brigade from Ammerland went smoothly," says Michael Döhla, technical director of the Ammerland water rescue service, about the operation on the lake.