Dramatic rescue exercise: Fire brigade saves people from a burning boiler room!

Dramatic rescue exercise: Fire brigade saves people from a burning boiler room!

Today, October 19, 2025, a comprehensive, cross-district subsection exercise by the fire departments in Oberndorf took place. The Hub-Lehen fire department organized this important event, in which a total of 75 members from five fire departments took part, including the Oberndorf, St. Georgen, Texing and St. Gotthard fire departments. The training object, a wood chip storage facility, was only accessible via a difficult access road from Texing. During the exercise, the emergency services simulated a fire in the wood chip warehouse and rescuing people from the boiler room.

There was also a technical operation on the access road with the focus on rescuing people. The special location of the property posed a challenge, but the water supply was ensured by a shuttle service. After the exercise, the participants gathered at the Hub-Lehen fire station for a debriefing, where the Oberndorf community provided a pleasant meal and drink. This shows the community spirit and the good cooperation between the various fire departments.

The focus is on rescuing people and protecting oneself

A short abseiling exercise at the end of the station gave the participants the opportunity to immediately put what they had learned into practice. In a second station, chief extinguisher Michael Niederreiter showed protective equipment such as heat protection and cut protection trousers. In addition, various nodes and their possible uses were demonstrated. At the same time, some experienced machinists held an exercise with the turntable ladder to ensure the operational capability of the equipment.

Prepare for an emergency

Continuous training and practice are crucial in order to be best prepared in an emergency. On September 14th, another fire department practiced rescuing people under difficult conditions. This was a scenario in which a vehicle coming from Kittsee overturned and ended up lying on its side in a dry biotope. During the exercise, the emergency services had to free a trapped person from the vehicle and find the lost passenger, a girl. The use of hydraulic rescue equipment was crucial to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

These regular exercises and targeted training show how important the diverse operational options are for the fire brigades and how they are constantly developing themselves in order to be on hand in an emergency with a good hand. Team spirit and the willingness to continue training remain essential – a clear advantage for our communities.

For further information about the cross-district exercise, the Hub-Lehen fire department refers to its website. The Oberndorf fire department keeps its readers up to date about future exercises here, while the Berg fire department has also documented interesting exercises for rescuing people.