Forest fire threat growing in Germany: Fire department calls for technology

The danger of forest fires is growing day by day in Germany due to continuous drought and rising temperatures. Karl-Heinz Banse, President of the German Fire Department Organization, emphasizes that the country is not adequately equipped to combat forest fires and that more investment is needed in specialized vehicles and technology. Although some equipment purchases have been made in recent years, the current situation is stated to be far from meeting the risks created by climate change. According to the data from the German Meteorological Service, the fire warning level has risen to 4 across the country, and to level 5, the highest level, in some regions. All this data reveals that authorities urgently need to develop new action plans and strategies.

The severe heatwave experienced in late June of this year caused forest fires to break out simultaneously in many states of Germany. Hundreds of emergency personnel were mobilized overnight to fight a fire that broke out near the Nuremberg fairgrounds. Although such local interventions are carried out with great dedication, it is clear that the problem is not limited to Germany alone. The situation is even more dire across Europe, with many people recently losing their lives in a forest fire in the Andalusia region of Spain. These tragic events serve as a bitter reminder that natural disasters caused by climate change have now become an ordinary summer reality.

President Banse particularly emphasizes the need to increase aerial firefighting capacity. According to previous statements by the European Union Commission, hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to high-risk areas such as Greece, Italy, and Spain during the summer months. Additionally, 22 firefighting planes and 5 helicopters from the EU fleet are kept on standby to support these regions. Banse advocates for firefighting planes to be stationed directly in the heart of Europe in the future to protect Central European countries such as Germany, Poland, and Czechia. In the past, it is known that in Germany, only the Harz district in the Saxony-Anhalt state rented a firefighting plane with its own resources, while the federal police and military provided air support.

Firefighting operations conducted in former military training areas have become extremely dangerous due to the risk of unexploded ordnance. Drawing from these challenging experiences, German fire department organizations have begun focusing on shrapnel-resistant special vehicles and firefighting robots for use in ammunition-laden areas. Thanks to these robots, an effective firefighting operation can be carried out over very large areas without endangering human life. Germany also greatly benefits from the strength of local technology firms that are market leaders worldwide in this field. The use of advanced robotic technologies both increases operational safety and prevents personnel from being directly exposed to dangerous areas.

Climate change, by creating long-term droughts and extreme temperatures, has significantly increased the risk of forest fires across Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region. Last year, an unprecedented total of over one million hectares of green space burned to ashes in Europe. In Germany, according to data from the Federal Agricultural Information Center, a total area of 2,626 hectares burned and was completely destroyed last year; this area roughly corresponds to the size of the island of Norderney. Authorities point out that the main cause of forest fires is largely human negligence, stating that this rate reaches 90 percent. Vehicles parked on dry ground, carelessly discarded cigarette butts, and uncontrolled barbecue fires are cited as the biggest human-caused factors in triggering these massive disasters.