Burns twice in everyday life: Oschatz fights against Feuerteufel!

Burns twice in everyday life: Oschatz fights against Feuerteufel!

On Tuesday afternoon, a forest and field fire broke out between Calbitz and Collm, which mobilized the fire department for a major operation. Almost all fire departments in the surrounding communities such as Luppa, Wermsdorf, Collm, Oschatz, Malkwitz and Dahlen were alerted. The main goal was to prevent the fire from spreading further. Fortunately, the damage caused was minor. Luppa firefighters had the opportunity to practically apply their knowledge from a recent vegetation firefighting course, which proved extremely valuable and shows the importance of such training.

Beforehand, on Monday afternoon, the Oschatz firefighters battled a kitchen fire in an apartment block on Langen Rain. The fire department was alerted at 2:50 p.m. when thick smoke was coming from a tilted window. The emergency services who arrived quickly discovered a small fire in the kitchen, which was quickly extinguished. Nevertheless, the smoke pollution was significant and the affected apartment is currently uninhabitable. The resident had to be taken to hospital, while two other people were able to leave the building on their own. A smoke curtain was used to prevent smoke from spreading throughout the building. A total of 17 emergency services were on site and the police have started an investigation into the cause of the fire in order to shed light on it.

Training and preparation for vegetation fires

In view of such incidents, it is essential that fire departments focus more intensively on vegetation firefighting. In-depth training is important not only for the safety of our comrades, but also for effectively combating these dynamic fire situations. In Germany, particular attention is paid to the basics of fighting vegetation fires, and the LACES scheme, which guarantees operational safety, is very well received. Practical exercises are essential to both test the equipment and train teamwork.

The Bielefeld fire department has set a successful example in this regard. During a large-scale exercise on November 13th, around 150 emergency services from 13 different fire departments mobilized to test the procedure for a forest fire. Based on an assumed fire scenario in the dense forest area near the “Senner Hellweg” hiking car park, it became clear how important cooperation between volunteer fire departments, professional fire departments and aid organizations is. Thanks to modern methods such as supporting drones and adherence to strict hygiene concepts, the exercise was not only pandemic-compliant, but also extremely educational.

With the increasing frequency of forest and field fires in our region, such preparation makes more than sense. For fire departments, this means constant training and refining firefighting techniques. There are major challenges ahead of us and emergency services must be well equipped to successfully deal with dangerous situations.

For more information about the challenges and strategies in vegetation firefighting, those interested can view the reports LVZ, Bielefeld fire department and f2wald read up.