Courtesy Photo | On April 2, 2013, firefighters from the NATO E-3A Component help a local fire brigade...... read more read more
Story by Carsten von der Stück
NATO AIR BASE GEILENKIRCHEN, Germany -On April 2, 2013, as my colleague, Bert Loos, and I drove to our runway position, we could make out a cloud of smoke over Geilenkirchen-Bauchem.
Some time later we noticed that the cloud of smoke was getting smaller. When we returned to the fire station, we had no idea of the further course of events.
At 16:45, the alarm sounded: “Man Crash 8 and Crash 9. Support fire brigade in Geilenkirchen. Sauna and swimming pool in Bauchem on fire!”
We immediately set off with the vehicles called upon. As soon as we left the base, we could see a huge black cloud of smoke over Geilenkirchen, drifting toward Teveren. We received further information via radio.
When we arrived on site, our team leader, Theo Lehnen, inquired where we should take up position. A fireman from Geilenkirchen showed us the way to the location assigned to us. Our task was to protect the gymnasium. The swimming pool, sauna, changing rooms and the restaurant were ablaze at this time and between the thick black clouds of smoke, flames leapt up several meters into the sky.
We immediately set up our articulated mast, Crash 9. My colleague, Franz-Josef Ramakers, and I laid the hose line from the 12,000-litre fire truck (Crash 8) for Crash 9. Within a few minutes, we were ready to help with the efforts to contain the damage. However, despite the massive employment of personnel and equipment of the Geilenkirchen fire brigade, it was unfortunately not possible to prevent the entire complex from being consumed by the flames.
Due to lack of water in the Bauchem area, it was decided at 17:25 to call our swap-body truck with the 10,500-litre water tank to the site. My colleague, Michael Adams, was thus able to bring several thousand litres of water to the site in a “shuttle service”.
In the evening, we were tasked to change our position in order to protect the gymnasium together with the crew of the turntable ladder truck from Geilenkirchen. In addition, we were to try to tear open the plastic roof covering from our rescue cage, but this unfortunately was not successful.
At the same time, our colleagues from Geilenkirchen were extinguishing pockets of fire inside the building.
Late in the evening, we received our third tasking. The fire had broken out again at the location where the turntable ladder truck of the Übach-Palenberg fire brigade had previously been positioned. We immediately drove around the entire building complex and took up position again. A particular advantage for us was that we were always able to work independently with our 12,000-litre fire truck, and every time we were ready to tackle our task within a few minutes.
Shortly before midnight, the on-scene commander from the Geilenkirchen fire brigade decided to release us from the operation. Before we departed, the leader of the Geilenkirchen fire brigade, Michael Meyer, personally thanked us, the five NATO fire fighters on site and the entire NATO fire department, for the quick, unbureaucratic and professional help.
On returning to our fire station, we immediately began to get our vehicles ready for the next operational requirement.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2013 09:21 |
| Story ID: | 105665 |
| Location: | NATO AIR BASE GEILENKIRCHEN, NW, DE |
| Web Views: | 265 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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