What better way to simulate a forest fire than with real fire and smoke? This special large-scale exercise took place on 18.09.21 with nine emergency forces from @fire and the volunteer fire brigade Kirchehrenbach.
The “flying sparks” exercise focused on the realistic representation of a forest fire and the associated extinguishing work. For this purpose, various items of equipment have been procured in the past by the local fire brigade and have now been presented. The Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann, was among those who attended.
Already in the morning, our task forces moved to the exercise area to explore and prepare it. For this purpose, several piles of branches were created and secured with wound strips. These were then burnt down in the afternoon by our emergency services in a controlled manner.
Controlled burning in the forest was carried out taking into account the submitted permits and a pre-prepared burning plan. The plan serves as the basis for a detailed briefing of the emergency forces and, in addition to the weather data recorded, also includes the escape routes and special hazards at the scene. The permit for controlled burning in the forest is an exceptional permit, because normally you are not allowed and cannot practise with fire in the forest.
The practical part of the exercise in the afternoon first included the exact localisation of the fire site by the aerial observers of the government of Upper Franconia. After the firefighters were alerted, they were directed to the scene by the emergency helicopter. In the further course, the focus was primarily on firefighting using hose lines and hand tools. Several @fire forces have already been involved in training here in the past. In the immediate vicinity of the training area, the Bayreuth fire brigade’s flight support team practised the use of external load containers on a police helicopter.
After the official end of the exercise, we took over the post-extinguishing and clean-up work together with the fire brigade.
