Hardly anyone would think of it: In the gravel pit, the Unimogs also complete steep stretches with a gradient of 60 percent.
Image: Peter Thomas
Be it floods or forest fires: fire departments are often confronted with operations in difficult terrain. In an old gravel pit in Baden, the fire fighters learn how to get through anywhere and at any time.
IThe abyss gets closer and closer, the view falls into nothingness. Down in the valley, tiny people stand in front of rain-soaked trees. Now the cabin tilts spectacularly forward, seat belts stretch over blue emergency clothing. Then the fire truck rolls into the steep slope. Roller coaster feeling. “Wow” shouts Caroline Hald. The young emergency paramedic is a machinist at the Heumaden fire department, a district of Stuttgart. On this cold, wet autumn morning, the volunteer fire officer steers the TLF-W (“forest fire tank fire engine”) down the extreme slope with fine steering movements. The all-wheel drive of the brand new Unimog U 5023 is engaged and all three differential locks are engaged. The vehicle category of the large Unimog is called “all-terrain capability”. The 170 kW (231 hp) special vehicle with a 3.85 meter wheelbase can now put the corresponding capabilities to good use: the gradient of the gravel path measures 31 degrees, which is an incline of 60 percent, two and a half times as much as the steepest public roads in Germany .
35 volunteer firefighters from the capital of Baden-Württemberg came to Ötigheim in Baden for driving training, where the Unimog manufacturer Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks runs an extensive practice course. This is the third training session this year for the fire guards. The training has a current background: Fire departments and other aid organizations in Germany are increasingly confronted with operations in difficult terrain due to natural events such as forest fires and floods. In particular, the flood in the Ahr Valley in 2021 and the fire in Saxon Switzerland in 2022 have shown how great the risks are for such situations in Germany. Therefore, appropriately specialized vehicles are currently being purchased in various federal states and the emergency services are being trained.
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