Fire test passed

New special units in the fight against forest fires

The fire in the Rosalia mountains put the emergency services to the test.(Bild: BFKdo Wr. Neustadt)

Not for the faint-hearted! 200 firefighters from Burgenland and Lower Austria had to master a difficult operation in the border region. In the steep terrain of the Rosalia Mountains, 1000 square meters of forest and meadows were on fire. The new special units proved themselves for the first time in the fight against the flames.

"The emergency services did a great job. Thanks to their rapid and professional intervention, it was possible to prevent the flames from spreading," said Provincial Fire Service Officer, Provincial Councillor Heinrich Dorner, summing up the situation in detail. The volunteers were under extreme pressure.

Fire between Forchtenstein and Hochwolkersdorf
In the late afternoon of July 16, the fire departments from the district of Mattersburg were alerted to support their colleagues from Lower Austria in fighting the forest fire - only a short time later, the dense flames had spread to the Burgenland side. The blazing fire raged between Forchtenstein (Mattersburg district) and Hochwolkersdorf (Wiener Neustadt-Land district).

The state invests 425,000 euros in new firefighting equipment.(Bild: LMS)

Dicey premiere for the new special units: Two vegetation firefighting platoons, VBB platoons for short, from the Wulka Valley and the Rosalia region arrived in this formation for the first time. "The specially equipped units have proved their worth. The specially purchased forest firefighting equipment was just as effective in fighting the fire as the aircraft from the Rust drone base," explains Dorner.

Investment in equipment
He points out that every district has the new special units. "The base concept comprises 40 fire departments for vegetation firefighting and 20 fire departments that can be deployed as a supplement if required." The state is investing 425,000 euros in the state-of-the-art equipment. "The 60 units are spread across the whole of Burgenland so that they can be deployed quickly everywhere," emphasizes Dorner.

To ensure that everything works perfectly on site, 2,000 firefighters receive professional training.

Landesfeuerwehrkommandant-Stellvertreter Harald Nakovich

Drones are a great help
Burgenland's fire departments have been receiving support from the air since last year. As part of a pilot project, drone bases were set up in Rust and Pinkafeld. The costs of 50,000 euros for both drones are borne by the state. "The forest fire on the Rosalia successfully passed the test," summarizes Chief Fire Officer Thomas Jandrasits.