A group of twenty Dutch firefighters, including the North Holland Maurice Peschier (33) and John Jones (61)is back from their ‘internship’ in Spain. For two weeks they watched with Spanish colleagues in extinguishing natural fires. The aim of the visit is to learn bluscht techniques that can also be applied in our country in the future.
Due to climate change, warmer and drier periods occur in the Netherlands, with the chance of more and more intense natural fires. In Spain they have years of experience with this, says Jitske de Vries, coordinator of the Dutch mission and specialist natural fire control at the Brabant-Noord security region. “Because of that experience, they have developed all kinds of techniques that are not all used in our country.”
One is extinguishing without water. Firefighters then go into the area with hand tools to remove vegetation for the fire. This way the fire cannot spread any further. In the Netherlands there are already two of these types of ‘hand crews’ that apply this technique. Another technique is to intentionally set it on fire. The vegetation can only burn once.
According to De Vries, it was also striking the large amount of data that the Spaniards collect and the good coordination. Cameras also ensure that burning is quickly in the picture. “In the three large fires, several helicopters, bulldozers and planes were used. They know exactly which materials they need.”
The Dutch firefighters also helped with the fight against three fires that raged in northwestern Spain during that period. For example, Peschier, who is normally at the Post in Zandvoort, was involved in extinguishing a huge natural fire near the Portuguese border. What particularly struck him was the scale of the operation. “Aircraft, helicopters, bulldozers … with us as a ground team there. That is so different than in the Netherlands. It was well coordinated and we really have been able to contribute something there, so that’s nice,” he said earlier on NH.
On Thursday, a second group of twenty firefighters left for the province of Ourense. The North Holland also lies Sam de Joode (30)who usually works from Castricum. Whether the project will be repeated next year is not yet clear.