Hermagor fire brigade: Four district champions crowned exciting!

Hermagor fire brigade: Four district champions crowned exciting!

On May 24, 2025, the district performance competitions of the fire departments of the Hermagor district took place in Rattendorf, Hermagor municipality. At the event, 25 groups competed against each other in the "Bronze A" category. The championship ended with exciting competitions and the announcement of the district champions in 2025, organized by the region's volunteer fire departments.

The winners in the different categories are as follows:
- Bronze category A: 5th Group of the Fire Brigade Tratten (St. Stefan municipality in the Gailtal)
- Bronze category B: 4th group of the Köstendorf fire brigade (St. Stefan municipality in the Gailtal)
- Category Silver A: 4th Group of the Kühweg fire brigade (Hermagor municipality - Pressegger See)
- Team performance competition: Group of FF Waidegg (Marktgemeinde Kirchbach)
All four groups qualified for the national championships, which take place on June 28, 2025 in meetings, Villach-Land.

honor and recognition

The award ceremony was musically framed by the Alpenrose Waidegg Trachtenkapelle. Representatives of politics, including Member of the National Council Gabriel Obernosterer, member of the state parliament Luca Burgstaller, district captain Heinz Pansi and Mayor Leopold Astner, congratulated the successful groups. District fire brigade commander Herbert Zimmermann also expressed his thanks and congratulations to all competition groups.

Overall, the event was characterized by strong support from other mayors, municipal councilors and representatives of flashlighting organizations that praised the tireless use of the voluntary fire brigades.

background to the fire brigade and their challenges

The importance of voluntary fire departments in Austria is unmistakable. In 2023, the fire brigades recorded a total of 278,495 missions, which means 34,000 more than in the previous year. The main cause of this increase was storm operations in many federal states. The fire brigade president Robert Mayer emphasizes the challenges of weather extreme and the need for a strong membership structure and technical innovations in order to meet the increasing workload.

Despite the high number of operations, the fire brigade recorded an increase in members to a total of 353,798 in 2023. The fire brigade youth also grows and now has 36,302 members. The growth of women in the fire brigades, which has increased to 9.5% of the entire team, is particularly remarkable.

The district performance competitions in Hermagor are therefore not only a competition, but also an important platform to show the commitment and solidarity of the firefighters in the region and to set the course for future challenges.

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