19 Apr 2022
 

At the very least, Rosenbauer is convinced that the use of satellite data will facilitate the handling and management of forest fires in the long term.

For this reason, as the largest fire-fighting vehicle and solution provider with 150 years of experience, it decided to start strategic cooperation with a young technology company from Munich called OroraTech. The two parties are quite different from each other in terms of age, size, as well as specialization. So what benefits does it hope to gain from this cooperation?

Wildfires challenges and detection

As has been shown in recent years, the issue of wildfires presents itself as a challenge that is far too complex and multi-layered for one discipline alone to master. To tackle the issue of wildfires sustainably and effectively, it is not enough to just fight the fire.

Similarly, the rapid detection of the seat of the fire is an enormously important step in avoiding major disasters, but it is not sufficient on its own.

wildfire management

The path from forest fire risk to damage evaluation and analysis must be the focus of efforts to avoid future disasters

When it comes to wildfires and wildfire management, several factors play a role, some of which do not even exist in classic urban firefighting situations: preventive monitoring of flammable materials, strategic reforestation of fire-resistant forests, risk forecasts, off-road firefighting equipment, training programs for alternative firefighting methods, and damage analysis.

In other words, the entire path from forest fire risk to damage evaluation and analysis must be the focus of efforts to avoid future disasters of enormous proportions for both people and nature. 

Data and information management 

Data and information management play a central role here. For this reason, OroraTech has set itself the goal of generating much of this information worldwide from space. The company already receives data from publicly accessible satellites with infrared cameras, which they process into usable information about seats of fire on the earth’s surface.

However, since this flow of information currently still gets interrupted for up to 6 hours due to the sparse satellite coverage, OroraTech is sending additional mini-satellites into space that it has built itself. These should significantly reduce the response time in the next few years.

digital support 

Rosenbauer accompany the emergency crews from the time of the alarm to the post-operational briefing

Rosenbauer, in turn, has been offering digital support in fleet management and incident command management for years, in addition to its diverse range of wildland fire fighting equipment.

They accompany the emergency crews from the time of the alarm to the post-operational briefing and therefore give the operational leader an overview of what is happening.

Reduced response times, safer lives

The cooperation between the two companies is now intended to bring together precisely these two strands of information so that comprehensive digital forest fire support can be offered that combines the respective core competencies of the two companies.

Not only is the response time to forest and bush fires shortened, but the lives of the emergency crews are also made safer due to the clear processing of information. Therefore, the companies are looking forward to their cooperation and are pleased to combine agility with experience in the best possible way.