Fire brigade Schärding takes stock: record year with 2,678 missions!

Fire brigade Schärding takes stock: record year with 2,678 missions!

Zell an der Pram, Österreich - On March 27, 2025, the first district conference of the Schärding fire brigade district took place in the Freskensaal of the Schloss Zell Bildungshaus Schloss Zell at the Pram. District Feuerwehr Commandant State Fire Brigade Councilor Johannes Veroner looked back on a operational year for the 66 fire departments in the district. A total of 2,678 missions of 6,932 active fire brigade members and reservists were made. It should be emphasized that 44 people could be saved from predicament.

The fire brigades in the Schärding district did 546,962 hours in the areas of application, practice, training, administration and youth work. The particularly remarkable operations include an F-KAT insert in Lower Austria and the tragic building in Schärding. The year 2024 was also shaped by elections at section and district level.

awards for merits

Delivered officials were also recognized as part of the conference. Johann Penzinger was recognized as an honorary section fire inspector and received the district medal in gold. Alois Steinmann was 2nd level (silver) of the Upper Austria. Landes-Feuerwehrverband honored. Further awards went to Stefan Biereder, who received the ÖBFV earnings sign 3rd stage (bronze), as well as Alfred Deschberger, who was awarded the BMI recognition mark.

For those interested, the annual report of the district fire brigade command on the website bfkschaerding.at ready for download.

Austrian fire and disaster protection academy

An important milestone for the Austrian fire brigade landscape was the foundation of the Austrian fire brigade and disaster protection academy (ÖFKAD) in 2024. This academy has set itself the goal of further developing fire training at the federal level. The primary target audience is higher fire guides and members in specialized subject areas. A future expansion to managers and members of other authorities and organizations with security tasks as well as fire brigade members from abroad is also planned.

A special focus is on disaster protection, which is increasingly focused as the core competence of the Austrian fire departments. Events are advertised to the state fire brigade associations and professional fire brigades, while the registration takes place taking into account the specified requirements.

statistics and successes of the fire brigades

Statistics for 2022 shows that the number of members of the Austrian fire brigades has increased to 350,283, which means an increase of 4,852 compared to the previous year. The active stand has increased by 1,675 members. The increase in the proportion of women in the fire brigades to 30,926, which is 8.8% of the overall team, is also remarkable.

At first glance, a decline in the operations by about 5,000 can be seen compared to the previous year, although the fire inserts have increased by more than 3,000. In 2022, 7,930 people and 13,710 animals were saved, which underlines the outstanding work and the willingness of the firefighters. There are no further information on the membership situation and operations, especially from Vienna and Vorarlberg.

Overall, these developments and statistics show that the fire brigades in Austria experience continuous progress both in training and in operational ability. The strengthening of disaster protection and training is considered important in order to be able to react to emergencies in the best possible way in the future.