The Berlin fire brigade is testing the high-tech extinguishing robot in the Schlangenbad motorway tunnel Photo: Spreepicture
By Dirk Boettger
On Monday evening shortly after 9 p.m., the Berlin fire brigade simulated a vehicle fire in the Schlangenbader tunnel. High-tech robots were also used.
The motorway tunnel was closed for several hours for the large-scale exercise.
The course of the exercise: An emergency call alerted the Berlin emergency services at around 9:30 p.m. that a vehicle was on fire in the northern tunnel tube and that the tunnel tube had been heavily smoked. Several fire engines and special vehicles rushed to the tunnel. The arriving firefighters drove through the smoke-free tunnel tube and were able to confirm the fire. A water supply was set up and the smoky tunnel area entered with respiratory protection. The rescuers made sure that the driver had already gotten to safety. The firefighters quickly smothered the fire and used fans to extract smoke from the tube.
The extinguishing robot in test use in the tunnel Photo: Spreepicture
The scenario has now been tested with special extinguishing robots. The high-tech firefighting robots can be used in areas that can pose considerable danger to people on duty.
The robot at the Schlangenbad motorway tunnel Photo: Spreepicture
On Monday, the possible uses of the robots were tested in a vehicle fire in an underground car park, a fire in a warehouse, a simulated forest fire and in the evening in the motorway tunnel.
Fire brigade tests the high-tech extinguishing robot Photo: Spreepicture
The two robots tested come from the field of snow cannons and have been adapted to the needs of the fire brigade. If purchased, the Berlin fire brigade would then draw level with other large city fire brigades in Germany that already use this high-tech technology.
