Successful basic fire brigade training in Lebring: 35 new rescuers!

Successful basic fire brigade training in Lebring: 35 new rescuers!

On April 12, 2025, an important graduation ceremony took place in Lebring, Styria. A total of 35 firefighters have successfully completed their basic training. This event took place at the State Fire Brigade and Civil Defense School and marks an important step in the training of the participants.

The training included various practical stations that were intended to prepare the prospective firefighters for their future tasks. This included handling jet pipes, fighting fires with foam, rescuing people and using rescue equipment, working with ladders in the fire service and fighting emerging fires. Participants were also trained to use portable hand-held fire extinguishers and deal with woodpile fires.

Practical demonstrations and field reports

A highlight of the event was the demonstration of firefighting in the event of a solid fuel fire, during which the instructors from the Knittelfeld area fire brigade association impressively demonstrated that not every fire should be extinguished with water. A particularly instructive example was the magnesium fire, which required special extinguishing methods. Fire inspector Markus Cebul, who acted as the area training officer, and section fire inspector Christoph Leitner were available to all those present to answer questions and provide explanations.

State fire brigade councilor Erwin Grangl, the Knittelfeld area fire brigade commander, congratulated the graduates and wished them much success in their future careers. All 35 participants successfully completed the basic training and can now support the approximately 1,000 members in the Knittelfeld area.

Further development of fire service training

According to bundesfeuerwehrverband.at Austrian fire brigade training will be significantly further developed through the founding of the Austrian Fire Brigade and Disaster Control Academy (ÖFKAD) in 2024. The aim of this new institution is to optimize fire service training at the federal level, especially for senior fire department managers and specialized members.

A particular focus is on disaster control, which is increasingly coming to the fore as a core competency of the Austrian fire departments. In the future, ÖFKAD plans to also address managers from other organizations with security tasks as well as fire brigade members from abroad. An annual program with new accents is being developed to clearly define the orientations and responsible people.

The ÖFKAD events are advertised specifically to the state fire brigade associations and professional fire brigades, with registration being carried out by the respective state associations, taking into account the specified requirements.

For more information on squad leader training, those interested can visit the page feuerwehr-mtk.de visit.