More and more people want to join the fire service
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On Friday evening, a state fire brigade day will take place in Hallein (Tennengau) for the first time in four years. The meeting recently had to be canceled due to the lockdown years. The teams in the communities are attracting more and more young people. However, the proportion of women is only five percent.
this event runs regularly every two years. After the forced CoV break, the State Fire Association is now presenting increasing numbers in many areas. The current account shows increases again in Salzburg.
Almost 12,000 missions
There were more missions over the past year – a total of 11,923. The volunteer men and women have put in 809,390 hours of work, practice and deployment. The number of volunteers continues to grow.
A total of 17,006 adults and young people are now organized in the Salzburg fire brigades. This affects active, non-active, honorary members and young firefighters, says state fire chief Günter Trinker: “Firefighters are in. That’s the positive thing in times of crisis, people get closer together.”
Still relatively few women
Women continue to be a small minority in fire services, although their participation has been in high demand for many years.
In the state of Salzburg, a total of 549 women have been trained to take part in operations. That is only five percent of all emergency services – and the trend is slightly upwards. Austria-wide it is eight percent, says Albert Kern, President of the Federal Fire Brigade Association: “There is an increase in the proportion of women in active membership.”
And with 1,284 there are more boys and girls in the Salzburg fire brigade youth. In Schwarzach (Pongau) there are now 30 – plus twelve last year alone, says local fire brigade commander Markus Buzanich: “It’s never too early to arouse interest in helping and in the community.”
Fire academy back in operation
Fire brigade also means lifelong learning. In the state fire brigade school, classes started again after the lockdowns – last year with exactly 700 courses.