As a strong foehn wind was blowing on this May day, the fire was able to spread quickly. Some burning shingles even reached Thalgau and Ebenau. It only took three hours and a great deal of damage had already been done to the whole village. There was no fire brigade as we know it today back then. This meant that every single citizen had to help out, using simple fire buckets and hand-held fire extinguishers. There was also a shortage of water, which made extinguishing fires considerably more difficult. As difficult as it was to extinguish the fire, it was also difficult to rebuild the market town. The high costs of 134,139 guilders (around 1700, one guilder had the purchasing power of 40 to 50 euros) that were incurred could not be paid without outside help. The abbot of the monastery, Opportunus Dunkl, therefore turned to the provincial estates for help. Empress Maria Theresa also supported the reconstruction financially so that it could be completed in just a few years. There were other fires in the course of history, but none were as severe as the one in 1774, which, according to oral tradition, was considered the biggest fire in the entire country up to that time.