Smouldering match caused considerable damage to an apartment

The carelessness of a 43-year-old woman from Zug caused what the law describes as a conflagration. According to the penalty order of the Zug Public Prosecutor's Office, she lit a match in the bathroom of her apartment and then immediately blew it out again. She then placed it in a bowl with other, used matches and went outside. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, however, she "didn’t bear in mind that the match had not cooled completely after this short period of time". In fact, the afterglow of the extinguished match set fire to the other, used matches.

The fire spread from the bowl to its wooden frame. A short time later, a neighbour noticed smoke coming from the bathroom window. Together with several other people, the neighbour opened the unlocked apartment door and extinguished the fire using a carpet and a few jugs of water. The fire brigade was alarmed, and arrived shortly afterwards. According to the penalty order, damage of around CHF 200 was caused to the furniture, and about CHF 10,000 to the building.

The 43-year-old was found guilty of negligently causing a conflagration, and was punished with a fine of 40 daily rates of CHF 50 (with a probationary period: 2 years) and a standard fine of CHF 500.