Garrison firefighters help German crews battle forest fires

Photo By Keith Pannell | Tanker trucks from the U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz Fire Station 2 at Sembach and Station 3 at Miesau Army Depot, provide mutual aid to local German volunteer fire departments during a forest fire that burned approximately 125,000 sq. meters of scrub and natural debris on the forest floor 5 km southwest of Sembach April 24.  

KAISERSLAUTERN, RP, GERMANY

04.27.2020

Story by Keith Pannell 

U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz

MIESAU ARMY DEPOT, Germany – U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz firefighters provided mutual aid to the host nation on two separate fires April 24.

The first was in the late morning near a nature hiking area about 5 km southeast of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, according to garrison Fire Chief Marshall Fiedler.

Station 2 from Sembach and Station 3 from Miesau Army Depot both provided a tanker truck for water supply and five firefighters to help fight the vegetation fire that was burning in the scrub and natural debris on the forest floor.

Between garrison firefighters and those from civilian volunteer departments, there were 80 personnel and 20 emergency vehicles on the scene. Nobody was injured and no buildings were burned in the fire that consumed approximately 1,000 square meters of forest floor, said Fiedler.

Approximately eight hours later, the same two stations were called to a vegetation fire in the village of Fischbach, in the old Fischbach Army Depot area. A total of six garrison firefighters and a tanker from each station were again dispatched to provide water. The fire was contained within the perimeter of the old depot. Concrete structures helped contain the fire, which burned approximately 35,000 square meters, according to Fiedler.

Combined with Host Nation fire departments, the second blaze saw a response of 20 emergency vehicles and 50 first responders working together to put out the fire.

“Responding to these calls for assistance from our Host Nation volunteer fire departments shows how we all work together,” said Fiedler. “Our personnel working closely with local fire departments to put out a fire, with no injuries or loss of property is the outcome we want every time.”

The cause of both fires is under investigation.

• Date Taken: 04.27.2020
• Date Posted: 04.27.2020 10:06
• Story ID: 368536
• Location: KAISERSLAUTERN, RP, DE