Burgenland, Austria's easternmost state (pop. 301,674 on January 1, 2026), is protected entirely by volunteers: 314 fire brigades, 308 of them public volunteer brigades and 6 company brigades, with 18,239 members in 2024. They are organized in nine fire districts, one for each political district and statutory city, under the Burgenland Fire Brigade Association in Eisenstadt. There is no professional fire brigade. In 2024 the brigades answered 13,795 call-outs, a sharp rise driven by floods. The state control center in Eisenstadt dispatches every brigade. In an emergency, dial 122 (fire) or 112.
Burgenland Fire Brigade Association office (non-emergency)
+43 2682 62105- Landesfeuerwehrverband Burgenland, Leithabergstraße 41, 7000 Eisenstadt, Austria
- Office: Mon–Thu 7:30–16:00, Fri 7:30–13:00 (CET)
- lfv-bgld.at (state association)
- State control center (office): +43 2682 66100 · Europaplatz 1 (Landhaus Neu), 7000 Eisenstadt · lsz-b.at
- Emergency: fire 122 · ambulance 144 · EU emergency number 112
How Fire Protection Is Organized in Burgenland
Burgenland has no professional fire brigade (Berufsfeuerwehr). Fire protection rests on 308 Freiwillige Feuerwehren (FF, volunteer fire brigades) in 171 municipalities, so many villages have a brigade of their own. Six company brigades (Betriebsfeuerwehren) protect industrial plants in Neusiedl am See, Mattersburg and Jennersdorf districts.
All brigades belong to the Landesfeuerwehrverband Burgenland (LFV, state fire brigade association) in Eisenstadt. It has nine fire districts, each led by a Bezirksfeuerwehrkommando (district fire command): seven political districts plus the statutory cities of Eisenstadt and Rust. Larger districts have four to ten sections, each with a base brigade; the brigade in each district capital is the district base with heavier equipment. Calls to 122 go to the Landessicherheitszentrale (LSZ, state control center) in Eisenstadt, which alerts brigades by address. The association's Landesfeuerwehrschule (state fire school) runs about 200 courses a year for about 5,500 participants.
Fire Brigades by District
| District | District fire command | Brigades | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eisenstadt (city) | Eisenstadt (at the city brigade) | 3 | ff-eisenstadt.at |
| Rust (city) | Rust | 1 | ff-rust.at |
| Eisenstadt-Umgebung | Eisenstadt-Umgebung | 23 | bfkdo-eu.at |
| Güssing | Güssing | 48 | bfkdo-gs.at |
| Jennersdorf | Jennersdorf | 45 (incl. 3 company) | bfkdo-je.at |
| Mattersburg | Mattersburg | 24 (incl. 2 company) | bfkdo-ma.at |
| Neusiedl am See | Neusiedl am See | 29 (incl. 1 company) | bfkdo-nd.at |
| Oberpullendorf | Oberpullendorf | 62 | bfkdo-op.at |
| Oberwart | Oberwart | 79 | bfkdo-ow.at |
| Burgenland | State association | 314 (incl. 6 company) | lfv-bgld.at |
Counts follow the district commands' brigade lists, which add up to the statewide 314. The association's district pages give 49 for Güssing and 80 for Oberwart.
Special Units & Capabilities
- Hazmat: bases in Eisenstadt (north) and Pinkafeld (south); every district base brigade carries a hazmat container. Hazmat is involved in about 350 call-outs a year.
- Water rescue on Lake Neusiedl: seven water-service bases (Rust, Mörbisch, Oggau, Purbach, Breitenbrunn, Neusiedl am See, Weiden) with boats; about 90 rescues a year, plus fires in some 600 stilt huts in the reed belt, many reachable only by water.
- Diving: a state dive team based in Mattersburg, founded in 1967, with 37 divers.
- Aerial support: trained flight helpers (Flughelfer) work with helicopter crews on forest fires, evacuations and transport.
- Aerial platforms: 23 m platforms at the Eisenstadt and Neusiedl am See base brigades.
- Disaster relief (Katastrophenhilfsdienst, KHD): disaster-protection bases rose from 7 to 16 in 2022, with 9 more planned and €20 million committed through 2027; vegetation-fire units are part of the program.
- Hazmat
- Water rescue
- Diving
- Reed-belt fires
- Flight helpers
- Aerial platform (23 m)
- Disaster relief (KHD)
Estimated Response Time
Statewide, 308 public volunteer stations share 3,965.2 km², so the average distance to the nearest station is r ≈ √(3,965.2 ÷ (308 × π)) ≈ 2.0 km (1.3 mi), slightly less on land because the area includes part of Lake Neusiedl. With about 76 residents per km² Burgenland is rural, and volunteers must first reach the station, so we use the volunteer column of our baseline table.
| Radius | Burgenland (volunteer) |
|---|---|
| ≤ 2.4 km | 8–12 min |
| 2.4–4.8 km | 10–14 min |
| 4.8–9.7 km | 12–18 min |
| > 9.7 km | 18+ min |
Typical expectation: about 8–12 minutes in towns and villages, and about 10–14 minutes for farms, vineyards, forests and the lakeshore.
Estimated Fire Control Time
| Fire size | Example | Indicative time |
|---|---|---|
| Small | Grass patch, dumpster, small vehicle | 5–20 min |
| Medium | Room-and-contents, car fully involved | 15–45 min |
| Large | Whole house, commercial unit | 45–120 min |
| Major | Multi-alarm, industrial, reed-belt or forest fire | 2–12+ hours |
Vegetation is Burgenland's typical major-fire risk: brigades fought 232 vegetation fires from January to early August 2026, about 53% more than in the same period of 2025 (147). Reed-belt and stilt-hut fires on Lake Neusiedl need boats and breathing apparatus; woodland fires rely on tankers and neighboring brigades. Expect times toward the upper end of each range there.
Call-outs & Statistics
- 2024: 13,795 call-outs (about 37 a day), up from 8,246 in 2023, mainly due to the June 2024 floods in Oberwart District and aid to Lower Austria.
- 2024: 18,239 members (2,249 youth), more than 8,500 training participants, and a record €9.6 million in state funding.
- 2025: 314 brigades (federal fire brigade association).
- Fires, technical call-outs and false alarms for Burgenland: Not published. Austria-wide in 2025: 254,598 call-outs, including 64,991 fires and 164,518 technical call-outs.
Outdoor burning and forest fires: The federal Clean Air Act (Bundesluftreinhaltegesetz) generally bans burning garden and farm waste in the open. Burgenland's exemption ordinance (Bgld. VVAV) allows narrow exceptions, such as public Easter and solstice fires; fires need constant supervision, are banned in wind of 20 km/h or more and must stay 25 m from buildings. Forest-fire ordinances (Waldbrandverordnung) come from each district authority or, in Eisenstadt and Rust, the city; in 2026 Güssing and Oberpullendorf districts banned fire and smoking in and near forests until October 31 (fines up to €7,270). Ask your Gemeinde before burning anything.
Neighboring States & Countries
- Lower Austria
- Styria
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
FAQ
What is the non-emergency number for the fire service in Burgenland?
The Burgenland Fire Brigade Association office: +43 2682 62105 (Mon–Thu 7:30–16:00, Fri 7:30–13:00). In an emergency, dial 122 or 112.
How many fire brigades are in Burgenland?
314: 308 volunteer and 6 company brigades in nine fire districts. Oberwart District has the most (79).
Does Burgenland have a professional fire brigade?
No. All public brigades are volunteer, with 18,239 members in 2024.
How fast does the fire brigade respond in Burgenland?
About 8–12 minutes in towns and villages, including volunteer turnout, and about 10–14 minutes for outlying areas.
Can I burn garden waste in Burgenland?
Generally no. Federal law bans open burning of plant material, with narrow exceptions such as Easter fires. Ask your municipality first.
Last verified:
- Landesfeuerwehrverband Burgenland: contact, fire school
- Landesfeuerwehrverband Burgenland — district pages, e.g. Güssing, Oberwart, Rust (brigades, sections)
- District fire command websites (brigade lists), linked in the table; aerial platforms: FF Eisenstadt, FF Neusiedl am See
- LFV special services: hazmat, water, diving, air
- Landessicherheitszentrale Burgenland
- Österreichischer Bundesfeuerwehrverband — Statistics 2025
- Statistik Austria — Population Jan 1, 2026 (preliminary)
- Land Burgenland — Municipal directory (area, 171 municipalities)
- Bgld. VVAV; forest-fire ordinances 2026: BH Güssing, BH Oberpullendorf (municipal copies)
- VIENNA.AT (APA) — Fire brigade figures 2024
- VIENNA.AT (APA) — Disaster-protection bases, 2023
- MeinBezirk — Vegetation fires 2026