Even if not as usual in the first quarter of each year, we were able to hold our traditional camaraderie evening on 2 October 2021 in the canteen of the Chamber of Crafts in Hennickendorf.
As hostess, the mayor Mrs Löser welcomed all comrades and guests. She thanked the members of the fire brigade, the old-age and honour brigade and the youth fire brigade for their commitment and hard work. This includes the activities in the operations, but also outside the operations, such as the meetings of the old-age and honour departments, the training in the individual youth groups of the youth fire brigade and much more.
All comrades and guests rose from their seats before being welcomed by the communal fire brigade commander and observed a minute's silence in memory of the comrades Karl-Heinz Viehöfer, Werner Domdey and Bernd Heinrich, who died last year.
Afterwards, community fire brigade commander Björn Hanneck also welcomed the comrades of the volunteer fire brigade as well as Sabine Löser (mayor), Patrick Rapsch (head of department), Ute Rusch (clerk), Klaus-Peter Püschel (chairman of the district fire brigade association MOL e. V.), Monika Döppner-Smyczek (head of Hennickendorf), Herbert Peschke (head of Lichtenow) and other guests from local politics.
The biggest challenge for the fire service was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. This meant that the fire service had to suspend its training operations and all other activities outside of the operations to be handled for a total of five months. The emergency vehicles were also deployed to alerts with a reduced response rate in order to minimise the risk of infection. Since March 2021, all departments have been able to carry out their training and meetings almost as normal again. The communal fire brigade commander thanked all the comrades for their discipline and understanding in these difficult times.
The Rüdersdorf near Berlin volunteer fire brigade was called out a total of 372 times in 2020 and by 2 October 2021, the fire brigade had already been called out 323 times. The following operations, training courses and events were mentioned for 2020:
- In February 20, the state fire brigade association met with the "History" department at the Rüdersdorf local fire brigade's equipment depot
- In March 20 a summerhouse in an allotment garden colony burned down
- On 13.06.20, all three local fire brigades had to deploy to several operations due to a severe weather situation
- On 16.06.20, a workshop building burned to the ground in Alt-Rüdersdorf
- The local fire brigades were alerted to a total of 3 traffic accidents on 17.06.20
- The Rüdersdorf local fire brigade was alerted to a road accident on the A10 motorway with one fatality in July 2020
- Joint boat training with the Woltersdorf fire brigade and the DLRG took place in September 2020
- As part of a request from the MOL fire protection unit, 20 comrades from all three local fire brigades supported the emergency services on site on 10 October during the search for fallen game in the Oderbruch in connection with the "African swine fever".
Since 1 January 2021, the so-called "smoke detector obligation" has also been in force in Brandenburg. In this context, it is clear to see that since then the fire brigade has had to respond more frequently to triggered smoke alarms. In the event of such alarms, it is always assumed that it is a real fire and for this reason all three local fire brigades are always alerted. In the future, it will be a challenge - in cooperation with the district and the regional control centre - to filter out as early as possible during the emergency call enquiry whether it is apparently only an acoustically perceptible smoke detector or whether, for example, the caller can detect the smell of burning. This was one of the topics discussed at the last service meeting with the district fire chief.
As at 31 December 2020, the volunteer fire brigade of the municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin had a total of 171 members, 98 of whom are active in the operational department, 43 in the old-age and honorary department and 30 children and young people in the youth fire brigade. In co-operation with the municipality of Schöneiche, a joint campaign to recruit new members was launched. One part of this campaign is the wrapping of a "Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH" tram, which has been in use on the route between Alt-Rüdersdorf and Berlin-Friedrichshagen since August 2021. The development also includes a joint website and advertising banners, which will be set up throughout the municipality in the near future. The community fire brigade commander thanked his comrade Manuel Przybylski ("Erbse"), who provided the "initial spark" for the campaign, and the fire protection organisation, which provided a not inconsiderable amount of funding.
In the back-up service, including vehicle and equipment maintenance/care, more and more work is being carried out by the fire brigades. For this purpose, the municipal administration, in co-operation with the municipal representatives and the responsible committees, has created a position for a full-time equipment attendant. Since 1 July 2021, the volunteer fire brigade of the municipality of Rüdersdorf bei Berlin has been in the "fortunate" position of having a full-time equipment attendant who takes on a lot of work for the volunteer comrades in the above-mentioned back-up service, but who is also available as an operational employee during his working hours. Christian Behnke has already fitted in perfectly with the team and is already taking on a lot of work during his "familiarisation phase".
One of the mandatory tasks of every municipality is to provide and maintain an efficient fire brigade in line with local conditions. This also includes the vehicle technology to be provided. The responsible body submitted two funding applications to the state of Brandenburg for an HLF 20 (rescue fire-fighting vehicle) and a TLF 4000 (tank fire-fighting vehicle). The decision on the funding for these two vehicles is still pending. As things stand today, an investment totalling around €1 million is expected for these two vehicles, which will be split 50/50 between the state of Brandenburg and the municipality if funding is granted. The TM (telescopic mast) must also be replaced/repurchased by 2028 at the latest. A TM is an aerial rescue vehicle that represents the second rescue route in many areas of the municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin in the event of an emergency and must be available to the fire brigade, and thus the population, for the processing of various "technical assistance" (e.g. in the event of severe weather conditions). The TM, which is stationed in the Rüdersdorf local fire brigade, will "hopefully" reach its "30th birthday" in 2028 and will then have reached the absolute maximum age for a fire service vehicle.
Last year, the municipal administration and municipal representatives decided to purchase a total of 5 "prefabricated garages" for the local fire brigades. Three of these garages are to be installed at the local fire brigade in Rüdersdorf, one in Herzfelde and one in Hennickendorf. The increasing lack of space in the fire stations justifies these purchases and shows that they are absolutely necessary. A very long wait for planning permission and a considerable price increase are delaying the completion of this project.
For around 4 years, the members of the emergency services have gradually been equipped with new firefighting clothing that meets today's standards and requirements. The administration has decided to divide the purchase into "annual instalments", as a complete set of this clothing costs around €1,300 per firefighter and a total of at least 100 firefighters need to be equipped with it. Two local companies have significantly accelerated progress by making generous donations specifically earmarked for new turnout gear for the volunteer firefighters of the municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin.
The shortage of skilled labour in our country is also clearly noticeable in the fire services. The district and the state are responsible for large parts of the advanced basic training and for management training. Unfortunately, the training requirements cannot be covered for the above-mentioned reason, among others. Many courses have also had to be cancelled over the past two years due to coronavirus. On 25 September this year, we were able to start this year's Truppmann training - with an almost record-breaking 19 comrades. In cooperation with the municipality of Petershagen/Eggersdorf, which is taking part in this course with four comrades, the first course of this kind is now finally being held across municipalities, with instructors from both municipalities making themselves available for the individual subject areas.
Since the end of 2020, Mario Strutzke from the Rüdersdorf local fire brigade has been deputy community fire brigade commander and Dominik Zipper, also from the Rüdersdorf local fire brigade, has taken on the role of community youth fire brigade officer. Both are contributing a great deal of commitment and initiative to the volunteer fire service in the municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin.
At the end of his speech, the municipal fire brigade commander emphasised that he was very proud of the volunteer fire brigade in the municipality of Rüdersdorf bei Berlin, and also thanked the local fire brigade leaders, the fire protection authorities and the municipal representatives for their very constructive and fair cooperation.
The following comrades were promoted and/or honoured on this evening:
Promotions
Appointed as "firefighter trainee"
Michael Mallow (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Dennis Kretschmer (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Enrico Schmidt (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Promoted to the rank of "firefighter"
Tim Schulz (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Franka Trötsch (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Jeremy Brietzke (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Thomas Meller (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Promoted to "senior firefighter"
Jason Richter (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Promoted to "Löschmeister"
Mika Schuckert (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Promoted to "Oberlöschmeister"
Gunnar Stinn (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Thomas Gersch (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Eik Rogoll (Herzfelde local fire brigade)
Promoted to "1st Chief Fire Officer"
Uwe Hinz (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Promoted to "Fire Chief"
Ronny Slusalek (Hennickendorf local fire brigade)
Promoted to "Chief Fire Officer"
Mario Strutzke (Rüdersdorf local fire brigade)
Promoted to "1st Chief Fire Officer"
Manuel Przybylski (Rüdersdorf local fire brigade)
Honours
Thanks to
Jürgen Malack for his many years of leadership of the A+E Dept. Hennickendorf local fire brigade
Romano Lindstedt - 10 years of loyal service (copper)
Tobias Zorn - 20 years of loyal service (bronze)
Thomas Hilbig - 20 years of loyal service (bronze)
Dirk Friedemann - 20 years of loyal service (bronze)
Bernd Schönefeld - 20 years of loyal service (bronze)
Michel Mielinger - 30 years of loyal service (silver) Mirko Grzebyta - 30 years of loyal service (silver) 30 years of loyal service (silver)
Mirko Grzebyta - 30 years of loyal service (silver)
Ronny Slusalek - 30 years of loyal service (silver)
Jörn Schuckert - 30 years of loyal service (silver)
Waltraud Richter - 50 years of loyal service (gold)
Klaus Nachtigall - 70 years of loyal service (gold)
Operational exercise on 23 October 2021 on the keyword "traffic accident - rail"
On 23 October, shortly after 05:00 a.m., all three local fire brigades of the Rüdersdorf near Berlin volunteer fire brigade were alerted. This was an unusual cue for the emergency services who had been called out. As this operational exercise was "only" organised by the fire brigade management and the main managers of the companies "Cemex" and "MEG" and only they had knowledge of it, the arriving emergency services had to assume a "real situation" at least until they arrived at the scene. After the arrival of the first vehicles, the deputy fire chief Mario Strutzke gave a brief briefing and described the situation to be assumed on site.
Two goods trains have collided, both train drivers are injured and access to the two injured persons is difficult due to the heavy collision. Fuel is also leaking from at least one diesel tank due to damage.
Even before the exercise began, the command vehicle from Vogelsdorf and an ambulance from the DLRG-Hennickendorf were ready at the scene to organise the radio traffic at the scene and to take care of the injured train drivers after they had been rescued by the fire brigade.
After the initial assessment of the situation by the incident commander, three operational sections were quickly formed and three incident commanders were assigned. The following operational sections (EA) were formed: "EA 1 rescuing people", "EA 2 collecting leaking fuels" and "EA 3 staging area and illuminating the scene".
All three EAs organised themselves very quickly and carried out their orders. Various items of equipment had to be brought into position. Among other things, a plasma cutter with a simulated steel plate was used to create a rescue opening for one of the two train drivers. At around 06:45 a.m., the second injured train driver was freed and handed over to the rescue service. The two other incident commanders had already reported to the incident commander that the incident was "under control". The exercise leader Mario Strutzke contacted the incident commander Daniel Smyczek shortly afterwards and announced the end of the exercise. The incident site could now be handed over to the MEG railway manager. After the incident commander gave the order to all the emergency services to "get ready to move off", it was time to dismantle and load the equipment used.
All participants then gathered together. The exercise leader thanked all the emergency services and participants from the companies "Cemex" & "MEG" for the initial handling of the emergency situation and co-operation. A breakfast snack was organised by "Cemex" at the Rüdersdorf local fire brigade's equipment depot, so that all participants were able to return to their families at around 09:00 and enjoy the rest of the Saturday.
At the end of November, there will be an evaluation of this operational exercise among the managers of the volunteer fire brigade of the municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin. As it was also an unannounced exercise for those involved from "Cemex" and "MEG", there will also be a date in November for an internal evaluation.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mario Strutzke once again as the main organiser of this very successful operational exercise, as well as those responsible at "Cemex" & "MEG" and of course the emergency services, who worked through this operational scenario quickly and in an organised manner right up to the end with great seriousness."
Chief Officer
Björn Hanneck
November 2021