Large exercise in the Triesting Valley: Fire brigade fights fictional flame inferno!

Large exercise in the Triesting Valley: Fire brigade fights fictional flame inferno!

On Saturday, April 16, 2025, a large-scale Fire brigade exercise between Pottenstein and Furth at the Triesting took place, in which 348 firefighters demonstrated their skills in dealing with forest fires. This exercise simulated an emergency in which a fictional flame inferno broke out in the forests. Various techniques and three helicopters were used in order to realistically reproduce the situation. The use comprised an S-70 "Black Hawk", which, together with two other helicopters, transported a total of 60,000 liters of water in 57 flights to the scene.

The exercise not only included throwing water, but also the evacuation of injuries into the valley. Modern coordination was essential; Emergency services worked with thermal imaging cameras and a live radio transmission to efficiently control the processes. "Fire!" Could be reported after three hours, which underlined the successful implementation of the exercise. A "crashed forest worker" was also saved, which was part of the scenario, and the trainers drawn a positive conclusion about the cooperation of the 40 fire brigades, the federal army, police and disaster protection.

increasing risk of forest fire

The risk of forest fire has increased significantly in recent years, and this is primarily due to the environmental changes caused by dry periods and heat waves. This means that the fire brigades are increasingly facing new challenges and have to prepare intensively for the emergency. Technical aids are of great importance for the effective control of forest fires.

An essential element for this is the forest fire use card (WBEK), which includes all important information for the emergency services on a scale of 1: 50,000. This includes, for example, extinguishing assets and towns that are shown according to the tactical signs of the fire brigade. These cards are provided by the responsible authorities and updated at least every five years, which enables current and precise orientation for the fire brigades.

• Important information on the WBEK:
• extinguishing water extracts
• Orientation of non -local emergency services
• Tactical signs of the fire brigade

In addition, more detailed district cards can be used for larger forest fire events on a scale of 1: 25,000 or even 1: 10,000. In some federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia, "forest fire" is used to work with "forest fire", which also represent the truck-accessible path network and turning sites in the forest. In Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, the "rescue chain-Forst" provides information about the navigation of paths and marked rescue points on site.

The integration of such modern technical aids is crucial in order to be able to react better and faster to forest fire breakouts in the future. For more detailed information about the technical forest fire prevention and operational strategies, we refer to other sources such as the fire brigade association that provides comprehensive information in order to further optimize the preparation and dealing with vegetation fires. Further details can be found in the publications of the fire brigade association that deal with the topic comprehensively ( here ).