FPÖ starts petition for volunteer fire brigades: more strength, less bureaucracy!

FPÖ starts petition for volunteer fire brigades: more strength, less bureaucracy!

On June 4, 2025, the Freedom Party (FPÖ) launched a new petition entitled "Sucked in.at - Less Bureaucracy. More Emergency", which is aimed at the needs of the 4,400 voluntary fire brigades in Austria. This initiative started by FPÖ general secretary Christian Hafenecker and the volunteer Harald Thau to draw attention to the support gaps in the volunteer and to request urgent improvements in fire brigade training. The petition aims to optimize the framework conditions for firefighters and reduce the bureaucratic hurdles, in particular the regulations for the removal of extinguishing water from natural waters. According to Hafenecker, who has been a member of the volunteer fire brigade for over 30 years, it is important that these indispensable missions are adequately recognized and promoted for the population.

The current Water Law Act, which has been in force since 1959, requires a temporary approval for each withdrawal point, which significantly limits the emergency services in their work. Thau criticizes these state requirements and calls for a reduction in the associated costs and an improvement in the quality of the training for firefighters. Although an FPÖ application for de-bureaucratizing the committee was postponed, the FPÖ remains determined with regard to its demands to build further pressure.

concerns of the petition

The specific requirements of the FPÖ include:

• Every new member should receive modern personal protective equipment.
• The reimbursement of VAT when buying additional protective equipment.
• Better labor law protection for emergency services and compensation for companies that release their employees for operations.
• legally regulated, paid vacation days for training measures and corresponding exemption models.
• grants for necessary driving license expansions because many fire engines are categorized as truck.

In addition, Thau emphasizes that fire service is much more than just a volunteer. He points out that the volunteers are also exposed to great stress, which makes adequate social recognition essential. In the course of the petition, the FPÖ also plans Austria -wide action days in the summer months in order to raise awareness of the interests of the volunteers and to increase the appreciation for their use.

volunteering as a social foundation

The BBK actively pursues the goal of strengthening voluntary work in population protection without introducing legal obligations. This also includes the development of future -oriented concepts in cooperation with various ministries. A central contact for all concerns of volunteering in population was set up to promote and strengthen the urgently needed networks.

With the petition of the FPÖ and the continued efforts of the BBK, it becomes clear that volunteering is becoming more important in society and accordingly the support from politics is necessary.

The petition can be supported online at www.angesaugt.at . The importance of the voluntary fire departments for society should not only be recognized in words, but also by concrete measures.