As of: February 20, 2024, 11:00 a.m
By: Christiane Mühlbauer
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On August 26, 2023, a severe hailstorm hit the southern district.
In the Loisachtal, Benediktbeuern, Ried (photo), Pessenbach and parts of Bichl and Kochel were most affected.
© arp
Should the district have declared a disaster after the severe hailstorm at the end of August 2023?
With this statement, the new mayor of Kochl, Jens Müller, is causing a stir and is receiving criticism from the district administrator and the district fire officer.
Kochel am See - The appearance of the new Kochl mayor Jens Müller at the local fire brigade meeting on Friday caused a stir.
As reported, Müller criticized the district for not declaring a disaster after the hailstorm at the end of August 2023.
Apparently, Müller said at the meeting, there were “procedure and communication problems”.
And further: “If it had been a matter of human life, there would have been deaths due to the lack of organization and communication.” Even if the declaration of a disaster “would not have been 100 percent legally correct,” one would have had to “act pragmatically,” said Müller himself Jurist.
Müller's statements are surprising for both district fire officer Erich Zengerle and district administrator Josef Niedermaier, chief fire officer in the district.
Jens Müller was not yet in office in August, and Zengerle and Niedermaier criticize the fact that he is now making these statements without having detailed insight.
Müller's statements are “strong stuff,” says Niedermaier.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier.
© arp
Niedermaier spoke to the Interior Minister
At that time, there was “very much discussion” about whether to declare a disaster, says Niedermaier.
He called Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann that night and discussed the situation.
“In the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district, a K-case had already been declared, and the minister said that he would not whistle the Garmisch district administrator back now,” said Niedermaier.
In order to declare a catastrophic case, certain prerequisites are required, for example that the situation can only be brought under control with supra-regional help.
If a disaster were to be declared, the organizational structures would also become more complicated.
In this case, the fire department operations management could not have been in Benediktbeuern, but would have had to go to the district office.
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In the emergency case, it is also about financing the operational costs.
As Niedermaier reports, the Interior Minister assured during that conversation that the municipalities could bill the fire brigade's material costs as in the case of a catastrophic case.
“We have this promise from Joachim Herrmann and Prime Minister Söder.” Declaring the K-case at the end of August “wouldn’t have changed anything,” says Niedermaier.
District Fire Commissioner Erich Zengerle.
© sh/Archive
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Zengerle: K-Fall wouldn't have changed anything
District fire chief Erich Zengerle, who worked as operations manager the entire time after the storm, said the same thing.
“We had enough emergency services available immediately after the storm, and there was enough material available at all times.” The helpers, including from the neighboring districts of Weilheim-Schongau and Munich, were quickly on the scene.
“A catastrophe would not have changed the operation,” says Zengerle.
Before Müller “makes such statements,” he should “inform himself first,” says the district fire council.
Up to 20 people worked in the fire department's operations management.
“We wouldn't have had any other structure.” Niedermaier suspects that Müller's statements are related to the fact that the Kochl districts of Ried and Pessenbach felt disadvantaged by the operations management in Benediktbeuern during the clean-up work.
This has now been discussed in a staff meeting.
They talked about what didn't go so well and how things could be done better in the future, said Niedermaier.
“Declaring a K-case wouldn’t have changed that.”
Müller sticks to his criticism - and gives the background
Jens Müller defended his statements on Monday.
He reports that at the beginning of February - shortly after he took office - there was a meeting with the fire departments from Kochel and Ried and the district office.
For example, it was discussed that the Kochler commander did not know where to get sandbags after the storm on Saturday until Monday.
“Not everything went perfectly with the operations management in Benediktbeuern,” Müller repeats his criticism.
Müller is certain that if the K-case had been declared, such things would have been easier to regulate.
Jens Müller, mayor of Kochel since the end of January.
© private
At this meeting, the criticism “arrived” at the district office, Müller also emphasizes.
The meeting was “good and we talked about what needs to be improved.”
For example, the fire brigade in Kochel did not know how to bill the operations until the beginning of February.
It has only now been communicated how things are going, namely as if the emergency case had been declared.
He gives “high credit to the office” for the fact that the Free State bears 80 percent and the district office 20 percent of the costs.
But Müller also believes that things would not have gotten this far if the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district had not declared a disaster early on.
Müller continues: “As mayor, I am also the employer of our fire department, and I allow myself to address such things publicly when it comes to our town.
I don’t mince words about that.”