Overview
- Interior Minister Armin Schuster presented the new firefighting vehicles at a handover ceremony in front of the State Chancellery in Dresden.
- The delivery includes ten off-road forest tankers and five large water carriers, which the state assigned to county fire services for rapid use.
- Schuster said forest-fire work will likely become routine for fire brigades, citing active fires in the Bohemian Switzerland region as a warning sign.
- The ministry said the wider build-out covers 15 forest tankers and six large tankers in total plus four command vehicles, with air units in development that add police helicopters now and three new aircraft able to lift up to 800 kilograms.
- Lawmakers are advancing a proposal to give crews more protected gear and specialized equipment for fires on former military sites where old munitions make standard tactics too risky.