Police detention centres staff were informed about the correct way to act in the event of fire. However, it was confirmed that most of the police detention centres only had fire alarms in the hallways. Fire and smoke alarms were only in the residential areas and cells in Vordernberg detention centre. Ex-officio examination of fire protection The NPM also followed the implementation of the recommendations by the Dialogue Committee on Civil Society (Zivilgesellschaftliches Dialoggremium) of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (“Polizei.Macht.Menschen.Rechte”) for the improvement of fire protection in police detention (see NPM Report 2018, p. 147 et seq.). The Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that it had complied with the technical fire protection standards for correctional institutions in the planning for the renovation of Linz police detention centre as well as the new construction of Innsbruck police detention centre and a police detention centre in Vorarlberg. Training guidelines for deployment training In addition, the Federal Ministry of the Interior reported about the successful completion of the pilot operation of the “target-group-oriented deployment training” programme and the announcement of the “guideline for training the deployment in police detention centres” in June 2020. This guideline, which is applicable for the Vordernberg detention centre for now, defines training material on the topics of firefighting, protective equipment as well as detecting and dealing with fire risks from detainees. After completion of the two-year, trial implementation of this guideline in the detention centre, the nationwide rollout is planned from September 2022. Live operation of the electronic fire protection book in Upper Austria The NPM also learned that the pilot operation of the electronic fire protection book in divisions of the Police Department of Upper Austria initiated in 2019 was positive. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the fire protection officer of the Police Department of Upper Austria maintains the fire protection book for the central offices. However, the electronic book was not used in the local offices until the end of 2020, as it was not possible to train the staff due to the pandemic situation. Regarding the remaining recommended measures for improving fire protection, the Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that the pandemic had caused a considerable workload for the Employee Protection department that supports the implementation of these measures. In view of this, there was no further progress to report. However, the Ministry announced that it would continue working on the not yet implemented recommendations. 145