The Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb) has called for an extensive catalog of measures to protect against dangerous forest and vegetation fires. “The fires currently occurring in Germany are a clear warning signal and show us that there is an urgent need for action,” emphasized vfdb President Dirk Aschenbrenner.
One of the consequences must be more active support of the “forest conversion” by the fire departments. An increasing but haphazard “de-firing” can be observed, resulting in deadwood stands covering many square kilometers. This means that fires can develop, especially during longer dry phases with strong winds, “which we have not seen in Germany for decades”. Experts understand deforestation as the removal of spruce trees from forests in order, among other things, to create space for other native plants.
Tactical and technical requirements
Fire departments are affected by the dire consequences but also farmers or foresters
In addition, the vfdb fire expert Dr. Ulrich Cimolino: “If the fire departments do not create the tactical and technical requirements and implement the correct handling at all levels in training, we will have to complain about deaths in action again in the foreseeable future.” It is not only the fire departments that are affected by the dire consequences but also farmers or foresters deployed to support them.
“Forestry, environmental protection and nature conservation and fire departments must work together as partners,” said Cimolino. “This includes finding common solutions. Areas must also be defined that, if necessary, will be abandoned from the outset in the event of a fire.”
Preventive forest fire protection
The forest fire expert described greater active consideration of preventive forest fire protection as urgently needed. In addition to maintaining or restoring paths, this includes preparing or maintaining paths and fire-fighting water extraction points. The aim should also be to cover more mixed forests instead of coniferous monocultures.
According to Cimolino, areas where there are or are suspected to be residual ammunition present a particular problem. “They must be evacuated urgently so as not to endanger human lives during firefighting operations,” he demanded. “Where this is not initially possible, temporary solutions must be found.” It is important to clear paths for the fire brigade, continuously adapt the mapping and mark danger areas.
Current forest fire events
Armored emergency vehicles would also have to be available for areas with leftover ammunition
At the same time, Cimolino reiterated the vfdb President's call from last Tuesday to use existing knowledge and new technologies. This applies to all types of forest and vegetation fires. It must be possible to use aircraft more quickly, and tactics must also be further developed in Germany. Armored emergency vehicles would also have to be available for areas with leftover ammunition.
vfdb President Aschenbrenner referred to an inventory of the research working group in the working group of heads of professional fire departments AGBF North Rhine-Westphalia, which represents the research needs in connection with current forest fire events. This is about the processes before and during an operation. Among other things, it is emphasized that the use of manned aircraft, helicopters, and airplanes is not sufficient.
Remote-controlled systems
“On the one hand, the drop heights that must obviously be maintained for safety reasons are sometimes too high for an effective extinguishing effect, and on the other hand, these resources are not available to the extent necessary for extensive situations,” the paper says.
“In addition, the operational flight hours and ongoing maintenance of these operational resources are very expensive.” Instead, attention is drawn to autonomous or semi-autonomous robots and remote-controlled systems. Could reach areas that are off-limits to emergency services for safety reasons.
