It is done: almost two years late, the new vehicle of the Langenbach fire brigade received the church's blessing.
Langenbach
- Almost two years after the takeover, the most modern emergency vehicle of the Langenbach volunteer fire brigade, a rescue and fire fighting vehicle 20 (HLF 20), received the church blessing on Saturday.
Before that, Deacon Christoph Gasteiger held a prayer in St. Nikolaus von Flüe.
The clergyman explained that the vehicle had been in use for many months without a blessing due to the corona.
Nevertheless, this act is now something special. It is a request for assistance, protection and help for the firefighters and firefighters as well as thanks for successful operations.
Thomas Glier, chairman of the fire brigade association, was delighted that so many members could be present at the “somewhat belated” blessing than they have been for a long time. Commander Thomas Schmidt reported to those present that the new vehicle was “precisely tailored to the current and future needs of the community and adapted to the tactics of the Langenbach fire brigade”. The community followed what a planning team suggested after 1,500 hours of work. Schmidt expressly thanked them for this. This has made it possible to "raise the protection of citizens to a new level". Even a hygiene board is integrated, which one could already use in those times.
The commander also confirmed that the high-tech vehicle is worthless without a trained operator. Since the start-up in October 2019, exactly 100 exercises have been done, explained Schmidt. That is why they managed very quickly to “report this vehicle as ready to be deployed and use it to drive all kinds of operations” - everything was included, including fires and serious traffic accidents, as well as the removal of storm damage and even “flooded cars” .
"It would not have been an option to just look at the new vehicle for a year and not use it because it was not blessed," said Mayor Susanne Hoyer. Especially considering how often it has already been needed. The town hall chief remembered the plans for the HLF 20, which had already started in 2017, and that such a vehicle cannot be bought off the shelf. That is why it took a high level of expertise from within the company's own ranks, from the district fire command and an "experienced administrative specialist who is very familiar with the funding system". In March 2018 the vehicle had to be put out to tender across Europe, in May 2019 “I saw such a large rescue vehicle for the first time,” recalled Hoyer.At the end of October, the vehicle with the license plate number FS-FL-401 could finally be picked up and “received with goose bumps”, the mayor recalled.
The new vehicle cost 480,000 euros, for which they received 119,000 euros in grants.
"The investment for the security of our citizens is well invested", stated Hoyer.
"With the procurement we have opened a new chapter in the history of the Langenbach fire service".
Raimund Lex
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