Deep sadness in Lower Austria – fire chief (33) died in an accident

There is bewilderment and deep sadness in the community and especially among the comrades of the Hollenbach Volunteer Fire Department. About the loss of a valuable friend and popular commander Manfred Langsteiner. A tragic traffic accident on Saturday evening near Windigsteig in the Waidhofen an der Thaya district abruptly took the 33-year-old’s life.

For unknown reasons, the man from Waldviertel crashed his van into a car in front of him, almost without braking. The van then overturned. The 33-year-old was thrown from the car and trapped. Floriani died at the scene of the accident. The 72-year-old driver was taken to hospital with injuries.

The shock runs deep
“Unfortunately, when we arrived on scene, it quickly became clear that no human rescue could be carried out. It was a big shock when the deployed troops found out that it was a fellow firefighter from the community,” explains Stefan Mayer from the Waidhofen an der Thaya district fire command.

Manfred Langsteiner worked as a motorcycle sergeant in the federal army at the Kaufholz camp in Allentsteig. He joined the Hollenbach Fire Department at the age of 15. After the basic training and initial courses in the field of water supply, the basic and practical training in forest and field fire fighting followed in the spring of 2023. Since then, the 33-year-old has been working at the state fire brigade association’s special service for fighting forest fires.

Excellent services
Along the way, Langsteiner competed in more than 50 competitions. He obtained the fire brigade badge and the water service badge in bronze and silver. In May, he and his team obtained the bronze badge for the “Respiratory Protection” training test.

Since January 2021, he has been commander of the 81 members of the Hollenbach fire brigade. Now his comrades said their final farewell to “Gut Wehr!”.