“Christmas in the Park” opens in St. Pölten

“The flood disaster in September showed that the Lower Austrian security family works and that the volunteer fire department is the heart of disaster control. A total of 95,000 volunteers were deployed in the fight against the flood and in the clean-up work,” said State Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner yesterday, Friday, at the opening of “Christmas in the Park”, a project organized by the fire departments of the St. Pölten-Stadt section in the Sparkasse Park State capital organized Christmas market.

The state governor continued that she had been there in many communities herself. Behind every door there was a fate hidden, many were faced with the ruins of their existence. On the one hand, it was about encouraging people and, on the other hand, thanks to the good cooperation in politics, it was about providing immediate financial help, which gave perspective and hope.

“The flood disaster was the largest showcase of the volunteer fire department that has ever existed,” said Mikl-Leitner, saying that it was good to have fire departments from other federal states on hand. Because 524 of 573 communities were affected, there is still a lot to do. “Our goal is to make Lower Austria the jewel box it was before the flood disaster. The solidarity that was shown can make us proud,” concluded the state governor.

St. Pölten’s mayor Matthias Stadler and state fire brigade commander Dietmar Fahrafellner also referred to the flood disaster. Stadler recalled that over 1,300 active firefighters from the volunteer and company fire departments in St. Pölten helped wherever it was needed: “We can rely on them, 365 days a year, at any time of the day or night “. Fahrafellner drew a comparison with disasters in other countries: “We had 25,000 firefighters on site on the first weekend, and a total of 60,000 were deployed. We will always be there when the population needs us.”