Bavaria’s State Secretary for the Interior, Sandro Kirchner, at the launch event for ‘Real Fire Training 4.0’ for Bavaria’s volunteer fire services: Fire training container enhances fire service training – perfectly prepared for challenging call-outs

“With the launch of the fourth funding period for the fire training container, the practical training of Bavaria’s fire services is being consistently continued. In this way, we are ensuring that our firefighters remain fully prepared for challenging operations in the future.” This was stated by Bavaria’s State Secretary for the Interior, Sandro Kirchner, at the launch event for ‘Real Fire Training 4.0’ for the volunteer fire brigades in Bavaria, held today in Gilching. As part of the training programme, which is run jointly by the Bavarian State Fire Service Association and Dräger, a solid-fuelled fire training container is being used to supplement training at fire service colleges and specifically prepare emergency services personnel for dangerous situations. Since 2014, the Free State of Bavaria has allocated budget funds totalling almost five million euros for this purpose. In addition to the procurement costs, the funding also covers the full costs of operating and training on the fire training container over a period of three years at a time, without the fire services having to contribute any funds of their own.

The focus of respiratory protection training is on realistic experience in dealing with fire and smoke. The exercises are designed in particular to help firefighters acclimatise to heat, learn the correct behaviour during fire operations, and protect against dangerous room-wide ignition, known as ‘flashover’. “Such intensive training enables emergency services personnel to gain vital first-hand experience and to avoid making wrong decisions – or even finding themselves in life-threatening situations – in the event of an emergency,” explained the State Secretary. Whilst the proportion of fire call-outs in the fire services’ total workload has declined in recent years, this has simultaneously made it more difficult, particularly for young firefighters, to gain the necessary experience in dealing with fire and smoke during operations. Since the project began in 2014, around 16,000 firefighters across Bavaria have already taken part in the training sessions. Kirchner said: “The fire training container embodies what makes our fire services strong: dedicated volunteers, modern equipment and training that prepares them for emergencies.”