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Intensive fire brigade exercise in Hohenweiler: emergency services in action!
On June 4, 2025, 130 firefighters from Hohenweiler and Bavaria practiced an underground garage fire in the new development area to test deployment strategies.
Intensive fire brigade exercise in Hohenweiler: emergency services in action!
On June 4, 2025, at 10:54 p.m., an extensive exercise to combat a simulated underground car park fire in the new development area in Hohenweiler took place. Around 130 firefighters from Leiblachtal and Bavaria took part in this complex operational exercise, which was characterized by heavy smoke and an estimated number of around 15 injured people. These individuals, portrayed as construction workers, demonstrated the challenges associated with a real-world damage event. The head of operations, Stefan Pfanner, emphasized the essential importance of cooperation between the various fire departments involved in the exercise in order to overcome the challenges in the best possible way.
The emergency services came from several fire departments, including Hohenweiler, Hörbranz, Lochau, Möggers, Eichenberg and the fire department from Niederstaufen in Germany. Each fire department provided a specific number of vehicles:
- Hohenweiler: 3 Fahrzeuge
- Hörbranz: 3 Fahrzeuge
- Lochau: 1 Fahrzeug
- Möggers: 2 Fahrzeuge
- Eichenberg: 1 Fahrzeug + Atemschutz-Sammelplatz
- Niederstaufen (D): 1 Fahrzeug
Involvement of the youth fire brigade
Particularly noteworthy is the active role of the youth fire brigade, which was integrated into the exercise. Emilia Klocker represented an injured person and was able to gain valuable experience, which she described as good preparation for active service. This initiative not only promotes the training of young fire brigade members, but also strengthens the sense of community within the fire brigade.
Comparison with other exercises
A similar exercise scenario took place on October 20, 2023 in the underground car park of an apartment building in Volders. Here the Großvolderberg and Volders fire departments worked together to improve their knowledge of the premises for real operations. Here too, an underground car park fire was simulated, with four cars burning to their full extent and an uncertain number of missing people in the underground car park being assumed. Through the use of respiratory protection teams and rapid attack teams, nine missing people were finally successfully rescued. In addition, a smoke curtain and a large fan were used to contain the smoke and keep the garage largely smoke-free.
Tactics for underground garage fires
In order to be better prepared in the event of a real operation, special tactics and techniques for fighting fires in underground car parks are essential. This is covered in detail in a leaflet which covers important features such as the location of entrances and exits, access points and fire installations. Important infrastructural points, such as fire alarm panels, smoke exhaust control and fire doors, should be taken into account in order to ensure the safety of emergency services and to be able to act more efficiently. This information is not only important for training, but can also serve as a checklist for inspections of underground car parks to draw attention to particular dangers and relevant infrastructure.
Overall, these exercises show the important preparatory work of fire departments and the need for ongoing training in order to be able to act quickly and effectively in an emergency. The experiences and findings from these operations help to ensure the safety of both the emergency services and the injured people.