Rescuers honored

Honors for Salzburg’s volunteer firefighters

They are on duty day and night, on a voluntary basis. On Tuesday evening, 22 local firefighters were honored for their many years of dedication and two lifesavers for their selfless help at a ceremony in the Salzburg Residenz.

Around 11,300 active members of the volunteer fire departments performed around 1.3 million hours of operations and training in 2023. 3,393 fire and 8,695 technical operations were completed. A quarter of the volunteer hours were spent training and educating firefighters alone.

From Abtenau to Zell am See - on Tuesday evening, 22 long-serving and, above all, deserving firefighters received the state's medal of merit at the Salzburg Residence. The volunteers were presented with certificates and badges of honor by Governor Wilfried Haslauer.

"A matter of course for me"
Richard Salchegger and Karl Steger were honored with the Lifesaving Merit Badge for their courageous efforts. The two employees of the municipal building yard in Altenmarkt had rescued two people from a burning house during a major fire in their community. The victims were the owner of the house, who was in a wheelchair, and his carer.

Salchegger and Steger heard the caregiver's loud cries for help and quickly ran up to the second floor and brought them both to safety. "It was a matter of course for me. At a moment like that, you just do it," says lifesaver Richard Salchegger.