Firefighting & disaster relief
Zealous extinguishers
In the fire year 2019 the planet is literally ablaze – whether south of the equator or at the Arctic Circle: fires in the Arctic, fires in the Amazon rainforest, fires in the Australian bush and in Indonesia. Devastating wildfires everywhere. Major wildfires are also raging in Central European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries. And they threaten nature and people.
Unimog in firefighting service for Latvia's forests.
When fires in Latvia threaten to destroy large areas of forest and endanger one of the country's most important industries, the wood industry, the Unimog U 4023 and Unimog U 4000 are on hand.
27 fire heroes on a national mission.
Wood and wood products are Latvia's most important exports. Not surprising, as about half of the country's total area is covered by forest. Thus the timber industry has traditionally been one of the country's strongest sectors and provides jobs. Large-scale forest fires therefore become a danger not only to nature but also to industry. Particularly worrying: as everywhere in Europe, the summer of 2019 in Latvia was even drier and hotter than the already fire-prone previous year 2018.
But Latvia faces the flames prepared: a total of 27 Unimog – 16 highly off-road-capable Unimog U 4000 and eleven Unimog U 4023 – are part of the fleet of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Riga. They form the backbone of the state's forest fire-fighting efforts.
“We can only use light vehicles. The 10-ton class is ideal for us.”
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When an alarm is raised, usually only one Unimog with a three-person crew is initially dispatched. The team is then additionally supported on site by the local forester. And often that is enough: in 70% of cases the firefighters can fully extinguish the fire with a single vehicle. If the fires are larger, additional Unimogs are called in. To better assess the extent of the damage during firefighting operations, drones are regularly deployed. They fly over the terrain and, using thermal imaging cameras, help quickly locate hotspots and flame fronts.
Especially in forested terrain the Unimog is in its element: larger tank fire-fighting vehicles often have no chance in dense woodland. The lighter, more manoeuvrable Unimog are an advantage here. And when the water runs out, Unimog crews refill their tanks at the nearest river or lake, so it's soon "Water on!"
Interview with Zigmunds Jaunkikis.
As deputy head of the State Forest Service, Zigmunds Jaunkikis knows the challenges of operations in forest areas. And he explains in the interview why the highly off-road-capable Unimog is ideally suited for firefighting, and why he cannot imagine a future without the Unimog.
How was the summer of 2019?
The summer of 2019 was much drier than the previous year, 2018. By 6 September 2019 alone, 999 forest fires had already been registered in Latvia. In the whole of 2018 we had only 927 fires. However, the area burned in 2019 was smaller than in the previous year.
You have very special vehicles for forest firefighting in Latvia. How did this specification come about?
We place great importance on the highest off-road capability of the vehicles, because we have a lot of swampy and sandy terrain. There are not always forest tracks, and we very often have to drive through difficult terrain. Our Unimog are all equipped with wide tyres with an agricultural tread. In addition, all vehicles have a tyre pressure control system and also a wading capability of 1.2 m. Because we can only use light vehicles, the 10-ton class is ideal for us.
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What kind of superstructures do your Unimog have?
The Lithuanian bodybuilder Iskada has installed, in addition to the 2500-l water tank, a Ziegler pump for high and low pressure. There are also two hose reels, a chainsaw, a shovel and fire beaters, suction hoses and a suction basket. The superstructure is designed to be very flat to ensure a low center of gravity for the entire vehicle.
How are you organized to be able to respond quickly to an alarm?
Latvia has ten forest administrations. Each of them has one or two fire depots. In the greater Riga area there are an additional five depots, so that we have over 26 depots in total. This keeps the travel to a fire short and is a maximum of 30 km. Foresters are also included in the alarm chains. If a fire cannot be extinguished, neighboring fire departments are always alerted as well.
Which authority is the forest estate in Latvia assigned to?
Latvia has 33,500 km² of forest, which is about 54% of the country's total area. Most of the forest belongs to the state. In addition, the city of Riga also owns its own share of forest, and of course there are also private forests.
How do you plan your future with the Unimog?
We expect the number of forest fires to increase in the coming years. Currently, 27 Unimog are in service. We have set ourselves the goal of having a total of 35 Unimog in service soon. This ensures that we can respond quickly and also reliably bring even large fires under control.
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