German Fire Apparatus (a brief extract)

[Christoph_51]

Hey guys,

since my Paint artwork was so well received and some of you showed some interest in
german apparatus I thought I could share some of my photos of them.

Photography is another hobby of mine.
I'am not a pro but I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Rescue-Engine/Pumper (Stuttgart Career-Fire-Department)
Year of manufacture: 2012
Pump: 528 gal./min
Tank: 528 gal. water and 52 gal. Class-A-Foam
Carries: Fire fighting equipment , Jaws of Life and basic rescue-equpiment



Light- and Heavy- Rescue-Truck (T?bingen volunteer FD)
Light Rescue:
Year of manufacture: 1992
26 gal tank with AFFF (Light-Water)
Carries: Jaws of life and basic rescue equipment
Heavy Rescue:
Year of manufacture: 1985
Carries: Jaws of life and advanced rescue equipment for water-rescue/hazmat situations and building collapses.



Mobile Cranes (Reutlingen Career-Fire-Department)
Year of manufacture: 2014 / 1989
Used for: Heavy rescues such as person pinned under a truck/train etc.



Airport Rescue and Firefighting Vehicle (ARFF)  (Stuttgart Airport Fire-Department)
Year of manufacture: 2002
Pump: 1585 gal./min
Tank: 3302 gal. water , 396 gal. AFFF and 595 lb carbon dioxide.
Carries: First-Attack Fire fighting-Equipment



Rescue-Engine/Pumper (Stuttgart Airport Fire-Department)
Year of manufacture: 2002
Pump: 634 gal./min
Tank:  634 gal. water
Carries: Fire fighting equipment , Jaws of Life and basic rescue-equpiment



Emergency-Physician-Car and Ambulance (Stuttgart Career-Fire-Department)
Year of manufacture: 2006/2012
They carry: Advanced Life support equipment ( Defibrillator,Suction-Pump,Respirator,Spine Board,KED-System,Drugs etc.)



Kind regards Christoph 51

 

[Bulldog]

Those were some great pictures!  It's kind of interesting that the fire service has cranes as part of their equipment, is this normal in Europe or just a special case for the department you had pictures of?  Since they require considerable training to be proficient with I really wonder how beneficial they really are vs. calling on a contractor with highly skilled operators?

I've visited Germany as well as several other European countries multiple times and have always been fascinated by the major differences between fire equipment in Germany and the US.  Other than the major obvious difference that in general equipment in Europe is smaller which necessitated by the narrower streets in the old cities there are also several other differences that I've never really heard a valid answer for.  The biggest of these is the fact that the pump capacity of trucks in Europe is considerably less than what US trucks have.  I'm sure part of this is due to the fact that the majority of their buildings are not woodframe structures so they don't require as much water for firefighting.  However they have a lot of industrial situations where it seems like the larger water flows would be just as valuable as they are in the US.  They also are much more dependent on smaller diameter hoses that are stored on reels, also probably mainly because of the much reduced water flows.

Overall I'm sure everybody has the trucks that are best suited for what they are doing but the differences are very major in most cases.

 

[Christoph_51]

Thank you for your compliment. 

At first: The cranes:

I can only speak for Germany.
Here it's not that common but compared to the US we have many of them. ;D
Most of them are operated by Career-Departments in big(ger) cities although there are some volunteers which have them too.
Some departments have them and some not.

At first it's a question of money.
As a Fire-Department: If the region is wealthy than you have a better chance to get such a nice "toy" if it is rather poor....

Most of the departments with a crane have had a bad experience/some bad experiences with "civil"-crane-operators.
(A person died because there was no private-crane available or it took too long to get it to the scene)

If the fire-department has its own crane it can move relatively fast through traffic without having to be escorted by multiple police vehicles. (Which is the case by private operators cause they're not allowed to use Emergency-lights an bypass a red traffic light by themselves)
Furthermore it is available 24hours 7days a week.

The departments with such a crane (e.g Reutlingen) do a LOT of training with them.

Most of the regions without a crane do have an agreement with a private-operator which says that in the case of an emergency he has to send the nearest crane even if  that costs him some money for not being able to do his regular job at a construction-site. To compensate this he gets money from the county.

And if the object is not too heavy you can lift it with a ladder-truck or with air-bags.

The topic with the pump-capacity:
Yeah, most of your statements are not that wrong.
Our residential-buildings don't require so much water.

But for the industrial Fire: If it gets to big the local departments often call for help.
Then you'll see some ARFF's from the airport responding.
That's a reason why these big Airport-Rigs hava a license-plate so they can drive for example on the "Autobahn" and fight fires along with the local departments.
They have a higher pump capacity and big deluge-guns.

I hope this explains things a little bit. 

 

[manhattan]

Some very informative answers, Christoph_51.  Thank you very much and please don't hesitate to keep educating us!

 

[Christoph_51]

If you didn't know that already I have an interesting fact about the german EMS-System:

You may have asked yourself: "What is this "EMS-Physician-Car" used for?"

Well, we have no Paramedics in Germany.
Our Ambulances are manned by two "Rettungsassistenten".
They are highly trained but they don't have the permission to give drugs (except for very few) and to intubate. (With a few exceptions)

So if the patient is seriousely injured and requires further treatment a Physician-Car will be sent to the scene.
It is manned with another "Rettungsassistent" which functions as a driver and (and that's important) with a real Doctor (!) who even has received special taining for medical interventions "in the field".

You may ask why the doctor doesn't drive in the ambulance itself.
That's because sometimes you arrive at the scene and  the health of the patient is better as expected and he only needs the "Rettungsassistenten" and not the doctor.

A few minutes later there is another emergency somewhere in the city.
How will you get the doctor to this second emergency if the ambulance has to stay with/transport the first patient?

If the doctor has its own vehicle and he isn't needed at the scene he can immediately go 10-8 (Available on the air) and will be sent to the second emergency.
There is a law which says that an ambulance has to arrive at the scene within 10 and a physician-car within 20 minutes.

That's our system. 
Not only in my region but in whole Germany.

Edit: Our EMS-Helicopters do function as flying physician-cars and have a doctor on board too.
They're also used to reach points that are topographical difficult to reach and to transport patients over long distances to a trauma-center etc.

Some of them are equipped with a winch and do assist in High-Angle- and Mountain-Rescue (Bavarian Alps etc) (Members have special training)

 

[Bulldog]

The concept of the Physician Car sounds really similar to what many EMS units in the states have and call them Fly Cars.  The difference is that in the states they are manned by a paramedic.  Their purpose is to backup conventional EMS units with a paramedic or to get a advanced life support person to the scene extremely rapidly.

 

[Atlas Aerial]

I'm digging the Chevy Suburban command car. Is seeing American-style vehicles commonplace in the fire service?  It's almost as big as a pumper

 

[Christoph_51]

American car-brands are very rare in the german fire service.
There are only about 12 pieces of american-apparatus in whole Germany.

The Chevy isn't a command-car.
It's a light-rescue which carries jaws of life and AFFF-Foam.
It responds to mva's and auto-extrications along with the heavy-rescue.

The reason to buy this car goes back in the 90's.

T?bingen county has many roads on which you're allowed to drive very fast which led to some serious mva's with people trapped in the car.
Back then there were no Rescue-Engines/Pumpers in the county. Our Main-Firestation (Headquarter) was the only station with a Hurst-Tool.
The hurst tool was stored in the Heavy-Rescue which is very slow.

If there was an accident 20 kilometers away it would take very long for the heavy-rescue to reach it.
And so it was decided to buy a car that could carry the Hurst-Tool and reach the scenes in the whole county much faster than the heavy-rescue could.

At this time german cars didn't have the power to carry such a big tool while still being able to go to a considerable speed.Only american ones could.
And since the vehicle should carry much more than the hurst-tool (hydraulic-cylinders etc) even the chevy had to be modified. (Stronger axles etc.)

Another requirement was that the vehicle had to have 4-wheel-drive for going off-road and that it could carry a Water/Foam-Tank also.
The tank was needed because in the 90's the cars weren't as safe as nowadays and would often catch fire after an accident which had to be extinguished very fas to be able to safe the person trapped in the burning car.

The heavy rescue would follow the Chevy as fast as it could to bring additional equipment to the scene.
With the Chevy/this strategy many lives were safed.

Nowadays there are rescue-pumpers/engines with jaws of life positioned in the other fire-stations wide spread through the county so this strategy isn't needed anymore.

But the heavy rescue still responds along with the rescue-pumpers of the other stations because it has some specialized equippment.
The chevy now only responds in the area directly around the headquarter.

 

[68jk09]

Christoph do you know the size of the engine in cubic inch displacement such as 350 or 454 ?

 

[IRISH]

Those were some great pictures!  It's kind of interesting that the fire service has cranes as part of their equipment, is this normal in Europe or just a special case for the department you had pictures of?  Since they require considerable training to be proficient with I really wonder how beneficial they really are vs. calling on a contractor with highly skilled operators?

I've visited Germany as well as several other European countries multiple times and have always been fascinated by the major differences between fire equipment in Germany and the US.  Other than the major obvious difference that in general equipment in Europe is smaller which necessitated by the narrower streets in the old cities there are also several other differences that I've never really heard a valid answer for.  The biggest of these is the fact that the pump capacity of trucks in Europe is considerably less than what US trucks have.  I'm sure part of this is due to the fact that the majority of their buildings are not woodframe structures so they don't require as much water for firefighting.  However they have a lot of industrial situations where it seems like the larger water flows would be just as valuable as they are in the US.  They also are much more dependent on smaller diameter hoses that are stored on reels, also probably mainly because of the much reduced water flows.

Overall I'm sure everybody has the trucks that are best suited for what they are doing but the differences are very major in most cases.

Ireland & UK do not have cranes. There is a move towards the "Hiab" on there Rescue Vehicles. Im not sure of the weight they are allowed lift i think its more towards the lower end of the scale. In Ireland if anything big needs lifting its contractors who are called in.

 

[68jk09]

A large multi story capable crane is something that requires a particular expertise to set up & operate & for the amount of incidents needed could be left up to outside contractors.....as far as a "Hiab" unit on an FDNY Rig i would think not....they are a side loading crane for loading vehicles onto the flatbed they are mounted on....again not something that FDNY would need they are a more "after the fact" vehicle removal unit ....if in another area it is within a Dept's purview it would work but not really called for as an FDNY equipped Rig....back in the day when many ADV's (Abandoned Deriict Vehicles)  appeared every day on NYC streets the private auto salvage companies (at least the big ones) contracted by the City after using a variety of towing equipment ("Bed A Cranes" worked well)  eventually evolved into flatbeds w/side loading "Hiabs" but once again i would say not something we need on an FDNY Rig....JMHO.

 

[IRISH]

The sort of things ive seen the Hiab used for in Dublin and used well would be the likes of Lowering / Raising FF's into holes for Confined Space Rescue, Lowering / Raising FF's in Rivers for water rescue, animal rescue and on 1 of Dublins 2 Rescues they keep some equipment on top of the rig as its smaller then the other Rescue so its used for lifting equipment off the rig.

Down in the country ive seen them used for Vehicle Stability if a car has gone off road and FFs are attempting extraction and in very rare circumstances vehicle recovery (The reason its rare is because the Longer FF's are on scene the more they have to be paid as they are On Call FF's)

For smaller FD's i think they work well especially when they wouldn't have the resources to hand like NY

But id agree with you Chief they wouldn't be needed in NYC

 

[auxlteng225]

back in 2002 I was in Karlsruhe, Germany for a week at the Metz factory and, while there, had the opportunity to visit the local fire house. A MONSTER sized crane truck caught my eye. Of course I asked my host what it was used for. He explained that in Karlsruhe they have trolley car service with very narrow sidewalks on either side and that pedestrians occasionally wind up under the trolley. The crane truck responds and lifts the trolley so that the victim can be removed. It, at times, also is called to the Autoban supper highway for wreck removal. While at the station they did get a call for it and it was quite interesting to see it respond with two members, air horn and euro type electronic siren sounding.

 

[Christoph_51]

Christoph do you know the size of the engine in cubic inch displacement such as 350 or 454 ?

I think it was a 454 V8-Big-Block,the biggest motor available and it was consuming a fair amount of gasoline. ;D
By the way: The chevy is now out of service and was sold to a private-owner. A Rescue-Engine with a hurst-tool has taken its place.

The new Rescue-Engine:

 

[Christoph_51]

I was on vacation in some other regions of Germany and of course i tried to get photoshootings with the local departments.

Unfotunately the Airport-Fire-Department i would have liked to visit first had some problems to deal with (vehicle failures/shortage of staff) so that they couldn't make it possible.

But then i went to a volunteer department and they were just great. They pulled all the vehicles out for me an they were very hospitable.
So i thought I could show the new photos of the "Friedrichshafen Volunteer-Fire-Department" here since their operational area needs some special equipment that could be interesting for you:

Tactical-Pumper/Engine:
This vehicle was bulit in 2007 and carries basic fire-fighting equipment about 300 gal. of water and a small pump.
It is used for the first-attack on fires in the narrow city lanes and the many surrounding vineyards. Therefore it is has a 4-wheel-drive-system.


Transportation-Truck:
Built in 1988 this truck is used to transport various things to the scene but mainly the equipment to save the Lake Constance in case of an oil-spill.
It is equipped with a 3-tons-rear-crane and a trailer-coupling for towing the two mobile-rescue-boats ans also big oil-barrier on two seperate trailers.



Hazmat-Truck:
This truck was built in 1986 and is used for every Hazmat-incident onshore. It carries various measuring devices, barrols to contain spills, chemical-pumps and twelve Level-A-Hazmat-Suits.


Swap-Body-Truck:
This truck was built in 2006 along with a secondary nearly identical one and is able to carry various swap-bodies.
In this picture it carries the flatbed-body which isn't so exciting but there are much more bodies to carry. For example: Two of them have GIANT oil-barriers on them.



Tanker-Truck:
Built in the year 2000 this truck is basically a water/foam-tank on wheels with a big deluge-gun on top of it.
Pump:  700 gal./min
Water: 1500 gal.
Foam:  200 gal.


Multi-Purpose-Service-Vehicle:
This 1996 Mercedes-Sprinter is used for "little" Emergencies like broken water-pipes / broken store-windows but also for urgent door-openings in case the EMS can't get to the patient because of a closed door. It carries a water-vacuum-cleaner and many toolboxes with different tools.


And at last - A little excavator- :   ;D


If you come to Germany I can really reccommend to visit the region around the "Lake the Constance."
It's so nice there. The people are very friendly, you can do a LOT of watersports, visit one of the many museums (for example: TWO Aircraft-Museums) and for people like me who live in a bigger City it is a good way to calm down in the nature.

 

[Bulldog]

One thing it always amazed me when I was in Germany or elsewhere in Europe is the size of their fire stations.  It seems like they believe in huge fire stations instead of smaller substations distributed across a larger area.  I'm assuming this is because of the huge population densities in small areas, they can still have short response times because of this.

 

[Christoph_51]

Not every station is that big.

Most of the bigger counties are split in two or three adminitrative-sections.
Each of these sections contains about 5-8 little stations with only an Engine.

And then there is ONE Main-Station in each of these "districts."
This is where they store nearly ALL specialized apparatus (Hazmat,Rescue,Diver-Team) and this is why this ONE station is so big.

But there is one exception that also could have influenced you in your assumption.
Most of the "tourists" visit the big(ger) cities of Germany.
A law says that when a city has over 100.000 residents there has to be a Career-Fire-Department.
And these Career-Fire-Departments have even MORE specialized equipment to store which makes EVERY of their stations so big.

Conclusion: If somebody invites you to Germany nobody will show you the little stations in the villages with one Engine. They will always bring you to the Main-Station because it's much more interesting. But that doesn't mean that every station is that big. For example: In Bavaria there are many departments which respond with a trailer with a pump on it - drawn by a farm-tractor- . 

 

[Bulldog]

I have been to many of the small towns and see the small stations you're talking about and you are right they are plentiful.  What I'm comparing the cute stations to is here in the United States or even in major cities like New York, Chicago etc. you'll never see a station the size of some of these.  Here in the states even specialized equipment is distributed throughout the city much more than it is in Europe.

 

[Christoph_51]

Maybe you're interested in some police stuff too.

Baden-Wuerttemberg State-Police RMP:
Mercedes Benz E-Class (They use 3 different types of RMP's. This is the most common one)



Until 2015 the cars were all Silver/blue. After some serious accidents (Main reason was: "I didn't see the Police-Vehicle.") they've added the new high-visibility-stripes.

Baden-Wuerttemberg State-Police Helicopters:
McDonnell Douglas MD 902"Explorer" - Primarily used for air reconnaissance

Eurocopter EC 155 - Primarily used for transporting the SWAT-Team and VIP'S

The aviation unit has its base at Stuttgart Airport (EDDS) and uses 6 of the MD 902 and 2 EC 155

 

[Christoph_51]

The next thing i want to show you is a german Ladder-Truck because I didn't do that until now and because it's a little bit different from what people in the US think of when they hear "Ladder-Truck".

From what I know your Ladder companies do perform searches,ventilation operations and auto-extrications.

In Germany the Ladder is only used to reach higher stories or to operate some tools from the basket.
They are  manned by only 3 Firefighters and the search-operations and auto-extrications are handled by the engine companies which usually have a manning of 9 Firefighters.

Furthermore they don't carry portable ladders. But therefore nearly EVERY Ladder in Germany has a basket and mainly 2 axles instead of 3.
The equipment contains some fire-extinguishers, some hoses, a litter, a rollglis-system, chainsaws , a jumping-cushion, a generator and a ladder-pipe.
The basket is able to hold up to 3 Persons and the ladder has an overall length of 100ft.

The ladder in the picture is a little bit special because it is a special construction for narrow historic downtown areas.
The cabin is set in front of the motor which makes the vehicle very short in height. That's usefull when driving thorugh archways.
In addition the front section (the last extension) of  the ladder is able to kink down like that:
http://www.iveco-magirus.de/public/img/gl/pic_gl.jpg
This enables the operator to reach dormers or interior courtyards.
The operator seat (on the left side of the vehicle) however is another German-Standard so the Chauffeur doesn't have to stand all the the time when operating the ladder.

Ladder 1 - T?bingen volunteer-FD




I hope that I could tell you some interesting things once again.