Nuremberg (dpa / lby) – Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) has called on the federal government, among other things, in view of the continued high risk of forest fires, not to relax its efforts in civil protection. Although all 16 state interior ministers had asked for more money from the federal government for disaster control, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had reduced spending on the Federal Office for Disaster Control or the Technical Relief Agency (THW) in his budget draft, Herrmann said on Wednesday in Nuremberg .
“We have to do more for civil protection, the federal government is also responsible for that,” said Herrmann. “I cannot understand at all that in the draft of the federal budget for 2023 the funds for civil protection are being cut,” said Herrmann. “Everyone is actually expecting a significant increase in funds,” he explained, referring to past events such as the floods in the Ahr Valley or the forest fires around Berlin or in Saxony.
Herrmann had the Nuremberg professional fire brigade demonstrate the latest ways of fighting forest fires – including fire-fighting flights with Bavarian police helicopters. The use of helicopters is preferable to that of firefighting aircraft. Airplanes could only be used sensibly on sea coasts.
Bavaria will purchase more, more powerful helicopters, as well as pump systems. These could not only transport extinguishing water to the site, but also be used in the fight against flooding.
