Fighting vegetation fires worldwide: Unimog at the Wipfelfeuer event.
The hot summer leaves its mark: hundreds of forest fires in Germany alone keep firefighters busy every year. And the numbers are on the rise. This means fire crews are permanently in action with many fields, moors and meadows being affected by wildfires. And this has a definite impact on our climate. Professional vegetation firefighting is becoming more and more important – all over the world.
The international Wipfelfeuer symposium organised by @fire, Internationaler Katastrophenschutz Deutschland e.V. made that particularly clear. Once again in summer 2019, professional rescue workers volunteered to share their expert knowledge with municipal fire brigade staff from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Their mission is to improve vegetation firefighting in Germany and Europe.
The experts all agree: "Protecting against forest fires means protecting the climate." Hartmut Ziebs, President of Deutscher Feuerwehrverband (DFV, the German Fire Service Association), stressed this at the specialist symposium. Forest fire protection expert Jens Motsch backed this up with his talk on meteorological developments entitled "The influence of weather and climate on vegetation fires".
Latest technology and know-how for beating the flames.
At the end of June this year, the tenth Wipfelfeuer event was held in Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. More than 350 international experts and special guests attended the event to compare notes and gain knowledge about the latest technological equipment available for firefighting vehicles. One of those present was, of course, the Unimog from Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks.
And practice followed the theory. Thirty national and international exhibitors and fifteen major vehicles were there at the specialist exhibition for fighting forest fires. Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks added to the colour of the Wipfelfeuer event with the Unimog.
A short product presentation was followed by numerous workshops: leadership tactics, the use of tools for fighting forest fires, pump-and-roll operations for extinguishing fires on the move, and operations in real fire conditions. The Unimog was able to show its wide range of achievements and strengths; because its vehicle concept is perfectly tailored to tough operations as a firefighting vehicle.
Numerous body and implement solutions for Unimog firefighting vehicles.
Because when it comes to the crunch, the rescue teams must be able to rely on their vehicle. Emergencies off-road, transporting firefighting material or crossing ditches: the Unimog can cope with any difficult task that comes its way – from the compact U 218 equipment carrier to the Unimog U 5023 extreme off-roader.
The bright yellow Unimog U 5023 provided by Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks won the day when put to practical use. Thanks to its robust chassis and fording capability of 1.20 meters, the Special Truck is the ideal companion in tricky situations. All of the implements are safely housed within the protected confines of the special truck. Also on-board are a tyre pressure control system and special heat-proofing for cables and lines. Thanks to a pivoting roof hatch, which can be fitted to any Unimog, it is also possible to put out fires while on the move.
