The volunteers from the fire brigades in Erling and Herrsching are prepared for accidents in the Kiental, as last Saturday.
As reported, a 27-year-old from the Fürstenfeldbruck district in the upper Kiental fell 60 meters on a rock ledge and was seriously injured.
Herrsching / Erling - For a good 20 years, signs in the Kiental have been warning of the danger of going off the beaten track. “Eleven dead so far” is written there in red letters. Wolfgang Lechner, who has been in charge of the Kiental and the state forest for the Munich Forestry Company for nine years, has even heard the number 18, but this is not certain, he says in an interview with Starnberger Merkur. The last time there was a fatality in 2005: a young New Zealander was initially missing after attending “Kiwi Day” in the Bräustüberl in September and then found dead in the Kiental.
"When alcohol is involved, it is always dangerous," says Josef Pfänder, commander of the Erling-Andechs volunteer fire brigade. The paths from Herrsching or Widdersberg towards the monastery are very well developed and, where necessary, well secured. Pfänder remembers an accident exactly two years ago. The participants of a bachelorette party were on their way home and at the height of Hannawies in the direction of Widdersberg, when the groom jumped over the top of a tree, the branch broke off and the man slid 60 meters down the slope.
It is not uncommon for accidents to happen at nightfall. It is not just that the risk of taking the wrong path is then particularly great. In the dense forest, it is no longer possible to see where the slope begins. It is not uncommon for people to end up injured in the Kienbach and get hypothermia in the process.
The problem is often finding people, says Pfänder. Everyone has a cell phone, but only the police can order tracking. “And the forest area is large.” It is not uncommon for the mostly unfamiliar hikers not to know exactly where they are - especially in the evening. “The search is often difficult.” Another stag party comes to Pfänder's mind when a man was wanted in the Kiental. Only with the help of the police and cell phone tracking was he found in a toilet in the monastery parking lot, in which he had locked himself in an intoxication. In that case a happy ending.
However, the fire brigade's volunteers are also there when it comes to animals. For example, in 2009, when a dog slipped down a slope after chasing a stick. The fire brigade saved the animal and its master, who had tried to rush to help in the meantime. In October last year it was a kitten that got lost in a tree in the Kiental and was rescued by the fire fighters.
After the paths in the Kiental were extensively renovated and expanded by the responsible forestry company in Munich in 2013, the emergency calls decreased. The rescue at height in the Kiental in Herrsching as well as in Erling is part of the fire brigade's exercise plans. A sanding basket stretcher is just as much a part of the equipment as fall protection. And the more emergency services there are, the better, says Josef Pfänder. Because a lot can only be reached on foot. Last Saturday there were a total of 40 helpers from Herrsching and Erling. grä
