Young everyday heroes

Securing the next generation of firefighters in the long term

Ready for an emergency: 120 young people showed off all their skills at the provincial fire service headquarters on Saturday.(Bild: Reinhard Judt)

Young people's hearts burn for the fire department. The youngsters showed their unbridled enthusiasm from the early hours of Saturday morning at the provincial fire service headquarters in Eisenstadt. 

120 young people took on the challenges of their training. "The fire department youth performance badge, FJLA for short, in gold is an excellent opportunity for young firefighters from the age of 15 up to their 16th birthday to call up and present the wide-ranging knowledge they have acquired over the years in the youth fire department," explains provincial officer Heinrich Dorner.

Interest awakened early on
The youth fire department is an organization that offers children and young people between the ages of ten and 16 the opportunity to become enthusiastic about volunteering. For 50 years, the youth fire department has been committed to supporting young people in order to prepare them for later active membership of the fire department. 

Dorner (right), Mattersburg's mayor Claudia Schlager, Eisenstadt's mayor Thomas Steiner and regional fire brigade commander Franz Kropf congratulated Leonie Nachnebel and Samuel Gerdenitsch on behalf of all participants on achieving the fire department youth performance badge in gold.(Bild: LMS)

Many tasks to master
The broad spectrum of disciplines ranges from "First Aid" and "Fire Alarm" to "Technical Operations" and "Questions about the Fire Service". "The preparation for active service is highly professional. In any case, the next generation of firefighters is assured," emphasizes Dorner.

Broadly positioned
According to the association, Burgenland currently has 309 volunteer fire departments and six company fire departments with a total of 18,016 members, of which 13,965 are active - including 1296 women -, 2404 young people including "fire department kids" - including 735 girls - and 1647 reservists with eight women. At the highest level competition on Saturday, the participants mastered the challenges with flying colors.