Fire departments challenged

“Fire in the district court”: major exercise in Rattenberg

Several people were rescued from the "burning" building by turntable ladder.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

On Friday evening, the sirens blared in Rattenberg in the Tyrolean district of Kufstein. But although a large number of emergency services gathered in the town shortly afterwards, there was no cause for concern: it was the fire department's final exercise of the fall. 

"Fire in the attic of Rattenberg district court, several people trapped" was the scenario for this year's final exercise of the Rattenberg fire department on Friday evening: under real-life conditions, the firefighters communicated with the Tyrol control center and made an emergency call.

24 people rescued
The siren sounded at 7:05 pm. During the approach, the Radfeld, Kramsach, Münster and Jenbach fire departments were alerted, so that a total of 76 firefighters with twelve vehicles and seven rescue members were on site. During the investigation, a fire was found in the attic of the district court, which meant that the escape route was cut off by smoke throughout the building.

Several breathing apparatus teams then entered the building to investigate and fight the fire. The turntable ladder from Rattenberg and the aerial ladder from Jenbach were used to rescue people, while the rest were rescued by eight breathing apparatus teams via the stairwell. In total, the firefighters had to rescue 24 people, two "injured" people were handed over to the emergency services for further treatment.

Observers were thrilled
Deputy district commander Hubert Ziepl, section commander Peter Ostermann, the deputy post commander of the Kramsach police station, Dominik Wartelsteiner, priest Manfred Thaler and Rattenberg's mayor Bernhard Freiberger observed the exercise on site and were visibly impressed by the performance of the emergency services.