Crews battle hotspots after Föhrenwald forest fire

Firefighters continued tackling hotspots and preventing flames from flaring up again on Thursday after a fire in the Föhrenwald forest near St. Egyden am Steinfeld in the Neunkirchen district was brought under control the previous evening, ORF reported.

Drone footage confirmed initial estimates that about 100 hectares of forest had been affected. The number of responders was reduced from 500 to 250 overnight, district fire chief Mario Lukas said.

Operations continued on the ground and from the air. Firefighters were working through the forest floor because smouldering hotspots beneath the surface were not always immediately visible. The work was expected to continue until the evening, Lukas said, adding that the main danger had been contained.

Three helicopters were still dropping water on the affected area on Thursday morning. Almost windless conditions were helping the volunteer firefighters, Lukas said. The operation could continue until Friday.

Fire brigades from other districts continued supporting teams from Neunkirchen. Lukas described the firefighters’ performance as outstanding, despite the high temperatures and the heat from the fire.

Dry conditions caused the fire to spread extremely quickly. “It only takes a brief moment,” Lukas said, describing how the flames grew within seconds after the first alarm was raised.

Another vegetation fire affected about 15 hectares in the Gänserndorf district on Wednesday. Fifteen fire brigades, about 30 vehicles and 130 personnel, as well as the district’s forest-fire response unit, fought the blaze in the area around Neusiedl an der Zaya, Palterndorf-Dobermannsdorf and Hausbrunn.

The Red Cross deployed 40 staff members to the two large fires, spokesperson Sonja Kellner said.

Forest fire danger remains extremely high in several Austrian states. Austrian Federal Fire Brigade Association president Robert Mayer said about 280 forest and vegetation fires had been recorded so far this year, compared with 160 in all of 2025. He said about 80 percent of such fires were caused by people, with discarded cigarettes the most common example.