Situation under control – This is how the fire in Großmittel is extinguished

Date:

Day 2 in the battle of the emergency services against the flames at the Großmittel military training area, in the Wiener Neustadt district. The situation is under control thanks to the self-sacrificing efforts of hundreds of Lower Austrian firefighters and soldiers. The “Krone” looked over the shoulders of the helpers during the extinguishing work.

As reported on Wednesday, a forest fire broke out in the area of ​​the military training ground Großmittel. The cause was probably spontaneous combustion due to the severe drought, but no maneuvers had taken place. Nearly 1,000 helpers from the fire service, Red Cross and army and five fire fighting helicopters from the air traffic police and the army were deployed on Wednesday to contain the flames – which was also successful.

wind as enemy
But Thursday morning a strong wind blew the existing embers back. “As a result, the fire spread again. We immediately took countermeasures and, in addition to the fire comrades and soldiers on duty, requested helicopters from Langenlebarn,” explains commander and operations manager Colonel Mario Ernst. While an OH-58 Kiowa located the embers from the air using a thermal imaging camera, two Alouette IIIs extinguished the flames from the air as best they could.

Firefighting is teamwork
The officer takes the photographer “Krone” to the situation center at the Jansaka barracks. Here the emergency services of the fire brigade, Red Cross and army regularly discuss the situation and discuss the following measures. “The situation is absolutely under control at the moment, but will likely continue to burn for another day or two. What we all do together as a team is, so to speak, a mix of fire protection and firefighting,” explains the soldier, who has been tested in crisis situations.

On sight
Then we take him to the emergency services. The air is stuffy and thick with smoke. Civilian fire vehicles wet the area around the actual seat of the fire, while the chatter of the army helicopters’ rotors can be heard continuously. This is not a safe job for the firefighters as there are duds in the military training area that could explode from the fire. For this reason, special attention should be paid to extinguishing the fire.

“We are fighting the fire in two ways, so to speak. On the one hand, irrigating the ground prevents the flames from spreading to other parts of the area, on the other hand, the helicopters deliberately throw water at the embers,” said Colonel Ernst, specifying the firefighters’ tactics.

Tanks fight fire
The roar of engines and the chatter of chains mingled with the crackle of the flames and the crackle of the red wines. Just like Wednesday, today there are several Ulan armored cars in the forest to cut firebreaks and thus extinguish the flames.

In the late afternoon the wind had noticeably decreased, some of the emergency services were able to withdraw: “But tomorrow morning the wind will definitely pick up again, so we will call in more firefighters.” The two Alouette IIIs and the Black Hawk continue to do their rounds fearlessly until dusk falls. They do not return to the base in Langelebarn until around 9 pm. At night, the extinguishing activities on the ground continue as usual. Ernst: “Tomorrow, Friday, several helicopters will be deployed again.”

High motivation of the helpers
It’s almost superhuman what firefighters and soldiers in full protective gear can do in temperatures above 30 degrees – but without this effort the fire would have quickly spiraled out of control. On Thursday, 350 members of the fire brigade and 150 soldiers from the army were deployed.

Teamwork as the key to success
“We have always been very pleased with the cooperation between the civil aid organizations and the armed forces, this time too. This perfect cooperation enabled us to get the situation under control. At this point I would also like to thank all civilian comrades for their commitment and cooperation” – said Ernst and said goodbye because he had to go to the next briefing.

Source: Krone

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