According to a survey, every Austrian will spend an average of 126 euros on New Year’s Eve celebrations this year. However, only a minority buy fireworks items. And yet the days around New Year’s Eve cause serious accidents with fireworks year after year. Krone.at explains what is and is not allowed.
The deployment of fire brigade authorities is strictly regulated. Only the categories F1 (from 12 years) and F2 (from 16 years) are freely available. And within the environment, only category F1 may be used.
Use is prohibited at these locations
The use of fireworks is generally prohibited inside and in the immediate vicinity of hospitals, children’s homes, retirement homes, churches, places of worship, animal shelters and zoos, including outside them. For class F3 (from 18 years) a specialist knowledge course is required, from class F4 (from 18 years) specialist knowledge is required. Violations also result in fines of up to 3,600 euros.
Despite strict regulations, catastrophic accidents continue to occur in the country. A blast took a young man from Seewalchen (Upper Austria) to the hospital the night before his 18th birthday. Initial investigations indicate the teenager had filled the plastic casing of a thick pen with an explosive substance. He and two friends wanted to set off homemade fireworks in a street just outside the city. But something went wrong.
Teen blows part of her hand off
On Sunday evening around 8 p.m., the explosive was still in the hand of the almost 18-year-old and caused him a large flesh wound. Part of the heel of his hand was torn out and the boy also suffered injuries to his face, fortunately not to his eyes. The Red Cross took the injured man to the Vöcklabruck hospital for first aid, after which he was transferred to the Linz accident hospital for a microsurgical procedure.
Numerous missions on New Year’s Eve
The accident in Seewalchen will most likely not be the last at the turn of the year. Because Upper Austria is the “most dangerous” state after Vienna. Last year, the Red Cross and the Samaritan Society had to accommodate fifty revelers and seven Upper Austrians were so seriously injured by fireworks that they had to be taken to hospitals.
Moped caught fire
And for insurance companies, New Year’s Eve is regularly one of the most expensive of the year: on average between 400,000 and 500,000 euros in damages are reported in Upper Austria. The first material damage from fireworks has already been reported from Braunau: the moped of a 58-year-old who had parked it in the evening was set on fire. The police were able to extinguish the flames, but the two-wheeler was a total loss. Whether the fire was started intentionally or negligently remains to be determined.
Source: Krone
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