Fire brigades in Lower Austria: Record use in the natural disaster 2024!

The fire brigades of Lower Austria counted an impressive balance in 2024: with a total of 107,759 missions, they were strongly challenged. The missions included a wide range, from over 7,261 fire inserts to 77,532 technical operations, including over 13,000 fire security guards. The number of members of the volunteer fire brigade is growing steadily and now has 105,285, including 77,164 active members, 19,299 reservists and 7,719 fire brigade. According to fireworld.at , the fire brigade provides that the fire brigade as the largest volunteer organization in Lower Austria Service on the citizen.

An alarming development in the use statistics is the dramatic increase in technical operations, which rose from 44,868 to 77,532. This increase is particularly due to the devastating natural disasters who searched the country between June and September, such as noen.at reported. In June, for example, more than 1,100 storm operations had to be mastered, while in July a hailstan weather caused considerable damage and mobilized several fire departments to repair over 210 damaged roofs. The flood disaster in September also called for the emergency services to exhaustion, with a million hours of more than 98,000 members being performed.

heroic deeds and future outlook

The governor's deputy Stephan Pernkopf referred to the enormous financial effects of the natural disasters: by February 10, 2025, over 330 million euros in damage payments were paid out. The rescue campaigns were successful, with 4,625 human rescues, which corresponds to an increase of 17.68 percent. The numbers not only illustrate the need for faster reactions to crisis situations, but also the performance and commitment of the members of the fire brigade, who invested over 7.6 million hours in their free time. In addition, an innovative communication technology will be introduced this year to further optimize the coordination of the missions.