To date, this replacement procurement is unique throughout Bavaria: The Fischbachau Volunteer Fire Department has received its new TLF forest fire. It can even cool itself.
Fischbachau
– The Fischbachau firefighters do not need to drive to a car wash with their new vehicle. Just press the big red button on the dashboard and the Unimog disappears under a fine wall of water. “This is the self-protection system,” explains Commander Marinus Gasteiger, pointing to the dark gray pipes that run along the outer edges of the bodywork of Bavaria’s first TLF forest fire. There are even spray cans in the wheel arches and at the bottom of the bumper, which are supplied with water from a separate 300 liter tank. Of course not for cleaning purposes, but to keep the car cool during forest fires that generate a lot of heat. “So you can drive through fire,” says Mayor Stefan Deingruber, impressed.
During the preliminary inspection of the vehicle, which was put into service in February and will be presented to the general public at an inauguration ceremony next Sunday and will also receive the church's blessing, Commander Gasteiger and chairman Franz Gruber listed a whole series of such special capabilities of the TLF Waldbrand. These and above all the fact that the Unimog, developed by the Lentner company, is the first of its kind in the Free State, brought it national attention even before it was delivered to Fischbachau. Gasteiger proudly reports that the manufacturer has even presented it at several trade fairs.
Compact and all-terrain
What sounds like a prestige project is actually “just” a completely normal replacement purchase. Gasteiger reports that they have been looking for a successor to the 32-year-old tank and fire truck since 2019. Initially, they planned to use a TLF 2000, but shortly before the contract was awarded in 2022, this was no longer supported. Since switching to a TLF 3000 was out of the question - according to Gasteiger it would simply have been too big - and the Free State had at the same time added the TLF forest fire, the decision was not difficult. Especially since the special vehicle was no more expensive than a TLF 3000 - and thanks to its compact design and complete off-road mobility, it has everything the Fischbachau fire department needs.
The Unimog is 6.90 meters long, 2.50 meters wide and 2.90 meters high, and weighs 8.9 tons (permissible total mass 14.5 tons). Thanks to the 2000 liter water tank and its high ground clearance, it is also suitable for firefighting operations in remote and impassable areas. Since it has six seats and can accommodate a squadron crew (four respiratory protection wearers, a machinist and a group leader), it can be deployed even more quickly for inner-city operations. There is no special training planned for the new TLF forest fire, explains Gasteiger. Nevertheless, there will be an increased focus on these types of operations, as they are likely to become more frequent as a result of climate change.
Replacement procurement with many special abilities
Even if the TLF forest fire is primarily a replacement purchase by the Fischbachau fire department: Due to its previously exclusive position in Bavaria and especially in the Miesbach district and a subsidy from the disaster protection fund, supra-local alarms are very likely, explains Gasteiger. It's quite bearable when you consider that the people of Fischbachau have such a modern emergency vehicle in their garage. Deingruber also describes all the special abilities of the TLF Forest Fire as a “pleasant side effect” of the investment that was already necessary. And yes, in the worst case scenario you could even use the spray nozzles to clean the street.
The inauguration ceremony
will take place on Sunday, April 21st in the Wolfseehalle. The service with vehicle blessing begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch and beer from 12 p.m., and coffee and cake in the afternoon. The Fischbachau music band, the Fischbachauer Goaßlschnoizer and the Kinderplattler group accompany the celebration.
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