In view of the drought, a number of fields and forests in Thuringia recently burned. The fire brigade was always able to rely on help from the air – but how is Thuringia actually positioned here?
Erfurt (dpa/th) – In the case of the field and forest fires in Thuringia in the past few days, the fire brigade has repeatedly received help from the air. The police helicopters for firefighting were always used when they had requested the emergency services on the ground because of the terrain, said a spokesman for the state operations center. Air support is also requested because of the particularly large extent of the fire.
This was the case, for example, with fires near Saalfeld (Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district), near Wernburg (Saale-Orla district) or in Wernrode (Nordhausen district). Dozens of hectares of fields and meadows burned near Saalfeld on Tuesday, and a 50-hectare field also burned near Wernburg. A forest area burned in Wernrode on Wednesday.
The two Thuringian police helicopters have been equipped with external load hooks since 2020. So-called “Bambi Buckets” can be hung on it. These are collapsible containers for extinguishing water. According to the Ministry of the Interior, five such containers are in use in Thuringia, they can hold either 1,000 or 2,000 liters of water. There are also four fixed extinguishing water tanks with a capacity of 900 liters and a 5000 liter tank. There are no firefighting planes in Thuringia.
The country is also currently acquiring mobile extinguishing water ponds with a capacity of around 60,000 litres. These will also be used to fight forest fires from the air. In addition, a funding program was recently implemented with which the municipalities were able to purchase drones for better detection of forest fires.
According to the ministry, however, no further procurements for forest firefighting from the air are planned in the near future. Currently, resources for firefighting are primarily being procured on the ground. These include, for example, forest fire and extinguishing backpacks, tank extinguishing vehicles or collapsible containers.
