Where skill is a must.

Aachen has four fire stations with a total of 280 vehicles and around 450 personnel. One of them is Philipp Allwißner: the career firefighter looks after the impressive fleet as team leader of technical services with his 25-member crew. The roughly 1,400 m² workshop area "auf der Hüls" is the hub for maintenance and repair of all Aachen vehicles.

Since September 2022, four new Econic 1835 with turntable ladder bodies have been in service in the North Rhine-Westphalian city. According to the fire service standard, they bring rescuers to a height of 23 m in 90 seconds. And they even exceed this if required. Three firefighters can be brought to a rescue height of 30 m.

When the replacement of the old aerial work platforms was due in 2020, the discussion about the future vehicle type was unavoidable, recalls Philipp Allwißner. Everything spoke in favor of so‑called turntable ladder vehicles: operational-tactical considerations, procurement and maintenance costs, and the vehicle mass required by fire protection regulations. After the tendering process, the company Magirus in Ulm was awarded the contract to deliver four turntable ladders.

The choice of chassis was also clear: with the Econic as the basis of the previous aerial rescue platform vehicles, the rescuers had good experience. "It was a particular wish of our crew to continue to rely on Econic," reports Philipp Allwißner. A genuine vote of confidence. Thus the M32LAS from Magirus were mounted on the Econic 1835. Then the technical team in Aachen took over the four new turntable ladder vehicles.

After Magirus had offered and designed the chassis as a prime contractor, the city of Aachen concluded a leasing agreement with the renowned turntable ladder manufacturer. "That brings us significant advantages — in particular with regard to the vehicles' lease terms and the service contract that we purchased with them," explains the technical team leader.

In the workshop, Philipp Allwißner and his colleague Matthias Claaßen, a vehicle mechanic and one of two workshop managers in the seven-strong workshop crew, present the advantages of the impressive Econic model: it boasts an engine power output of 350 hp, an Allison 3200P automatic transmission and a wheelbase of 4,500 mm.

In addition, the chassis has a permissible gross vehicle weight of 16 t. "That is essential for navigating certain building areas," explains Philipp Allwißner. The dimensions of the low-entry truck make maneuvering in tight inner-city areas easier. This makes the emergency crews faster. Self-protection—an important topic in firefighter training—is also taken into account: thanks to the DirectVision cab, the Econic driver has a generous direct view of the traffic and can also be supported by safety assistance systems. After all, during rescue operations it is particularly important not to become involved in an accident yourself.

Philipp Allwißner reiterates: "With the Econic chassis we have really found an ideal solution."

The vehicle interior is also impressive. On the way to the incident, firefighters can put on their breathing apparatus in the spacious cab, as the relevant equipment has been integrated into the seats. This saves valuable minutes in deployments where smoke poses a threat to life. Of course there are further uses for turntable ladders – technical assistance such as illuminating accident scenes or the classic 'animal in a tree'. On that note, Philipp Allwißner dispels a misconception: experience shows that these cases involve incapacitated birds much more often than cats.

Back on the ground, Matthias Claaßen explains how his workshop crew at "auf der Hüls" takes care of maintenance, repairs and modernisations: "Every day brings new challenges; we adapt to each vehicle anew. The Econic provides a kind of operational guarantee." Thanks to its robust construction and easy maintenance, there is hardly any downtime. As a result, one of the four vehicles in the fleet can serve not only as a reserve but also for training purposes.

In Aachen alone, almost 250 firefighters have been trained in turntable ladder operations. Their training was specifically geared towards handling the new Econic – just as workshop staff intensively worked on servicing and repairs. During deployments and in the workshop, every step has been trained to perfection so that the Econic is ready to serve the community – around a dozen times a day.

These are deployments that underline the vital role of the new acquisitions. Philipp Allwißner remembers a particularly critical case that occurred just a few weeks ago: "In that residential fire we were able to rescue all nine people from a burning flat with the Econic. Every second counted." Seconds in which human and machine worked perfectly together.