Quarry Rescue Drills Put Three Winches and a Scrapped Dump Truck to the Test
Published on 10/21/2026 at 20:41 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Seven volunteer fire brigades from District 4 of the Eisenstadt-Umgebung administrative district spent a training day at the Schraufstädter GmbH quarry working through complex technical-rescue scenarios, regional media reported on 20 October 2026. Crews from Wimpassing, Leithaprodersdorf, Loretto, Hornstein, Stotzing, Neufeld and Müllendorf took part.
Two Car Crashes, Then a Dump Truck on Its Side
Organisers split the brigades into small teams of two to three per scenario. The opening exercise simulated two road traffic accidents, each with two people trapped inside the vehicles.
The hardest task came in the industrial setting: rescuing two workers partially pinned when a dump truck overturned. To stabilise the retired tipper, firefighters deployed lifting bags and three winches, using loose pulley redirects to double the pulling force.
Crews also practised bringing people down from tall construction machinery with mobile rescue platforms. Section commander Franz Nechansky said he was satisfied with how the exercise unfolded. The event also honoured Wolfgang Schraufstädter, the company's managing director and a member of the Loretto volunteer fire brigade, for his many years of service.
Six Injured Youths on a Steep Bank Near the Lamingbach Reservoir
Elsewhere in the country, other crews were running demanding rescue drills in difficult terrain at the same time. On 19 October 2026, the Kapfenberg-Diemlach and Bruck an der Mur volunteer brigades held a joint exercise around the dammed Lamingbach.
The scenario: six young people who had fallen, were seriously injured and mostly unable to walk. Specialist teams for human rescue and fall protection coordinated the operation and established access to the casualties, who were then carried out in basket stretchers. Other personnel handled the supply of equipment and set up power and lighting, with the youth fire brigade also involved. Once all exercise objectives were met, the debrief took place at the Bruck fire station.
Narrow Steel Stairs, a Lift Shaft and an Unplanned Injury
Real incidents at industrial sites routinely force rescue services to work under difficult conditions. At Ichenhausen on 17 October 2026, the local fire brigade and emergency medical service began training at around 8:30 a.m. at the company KLB Kötztal, rehearsing the rescue of a patient from the fourth level via a narrow steel staircase.
Led by Oliver Stritzinger and Dominik Ziegler, the crews set up an anchor point for a rope haul on the fifth level and lowered the patient through the lift shaft in a rescue basket stretcher.
Just over an hour in, a genuine incident interrupted proceedings: a member of the emergency medical team fell on a stair tread, injured a shoulder and, after an emergency call, had to be taken to hospital by ambulance before training could resume.
A day earlier, on 16 October 2026, the Landemert and Stadtmitte fire groups of the Plettenberg volunteer brigade had joined the full-time station in simulating a call at Elaflex Hiby on Grünestraße.
The scenario involved a deflagration at the plant, a basement fire and several missing employees on different floors. Wearing breathing apparatus, several teams rescued people and heavy training dummies. Hygiene officers were also on hand to help crews remove contaminated protective clothing.
New Three-Legged System for Flood and Rubble Rescues
From 12 to 14 October 2026, the Koblenz state office for fire and disaster protection ran a three-day advanced course for instructors of height-rescue teams. The focus was instruction in a newly procured tripod system for flood rescues, controlled lowering and operations in collapsed structures; all participants received certification.
