Fire service & disaster relief
The versatile all-rounder in disaster response
To be able to respond appropriately in the future to climate change-related disasters such as wildfires or flood surges, the Hessian Ministry of the Interior has procured a total of 26 highly off-road-capable Unimog U 5023 — one for each district. But there is more to the name Unimog than pure power. The impressive off-road capabilities of the U 5023, together with a wide range of body configuration options and interfaces, provide enormous flexibility. And this is becoming increasingly indispensable in modern disaster relief.
Hesse relies on 26 new Unimog vehicles for disaster relief
Adaptation becomes a necessity.
In a world kept on edge by advancing climate change, disaster relief faces a mammoth task. It must respond to a wide spectrum of emergencies – from wildfires to flooding. Essential for this are multifunctional emergency vehicles.
The flood disaster in the Ahr valley in summer 2021 brought this into stark relief. Not only there, but also in other locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the floods caused devastating damage.
The urgent need for multifunctional emergency vehicles has been recognised in Hessian disaster relief. The Ministry of the Interior, for Security and Homeland Protection has commissioned the equipping of each of the 21 districts and five independent cities – 26 in total – with a highly off-road-capable Unimog U 5023. As disaster relief logistics vehicles (GW-L KatS), the Unimog vehicles are intended to help ensure an appropriate response to future crisis scenarios.
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For the advance to the seat of the fire.
Providing effective aid – even under extreme conditions. That’s what makes the Unimog. “Highly off-road-capable Unimogs are built so robustly that firefighters can get as close as possible to the scene of the incident to prevent worse from happening,” explains Hajo Brunsiek, Segment Manager for Fire Service at Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks.
In forest fires, for example, emergency crews can usually advance right up to the seat of the fire. This is made possible by the factory-fitted heat protection package. It protects the Unimog from damage with a special covering of all the important lines.
In the event of a flood, the Unimog can even wade through flowing waters up to 1.2 m deep. The famous Unimog characteristics – all-wheel drive with differential locks, portal axles with very high ground clearance, extreme torsional flexibility and a low center of gravity – make the multifunction vehicle virtually unstoppable. And all that with a respectable permissible gross vehicle weight of 14.5 t.
For the Hessian disaster control authority, however, the Unimog’s greatest asset is the combination of off-road capability and high flexibility.
All-wheel drive, portal axles, extreme torsional flexibility and a low centre of gravity – the Unimog reaches the deployment site safely.
Several emergency vehicles in one.
The vehicle concept of the 26 GW-L KatS was implemented together with Eggers Fahrzeugbau GmbH, itself a certified Mercedes-Benz Unimog ExpertPartner. It is characterised by a modular design that makes it possible to adapt the Unimog to its field of application in the shortest possible time. This means that the Unimog can be used not only in fires and floods, but also as an evacuation vehicle or – with a platform and loading crane – as a powerful logistics unit.
"As a vehicle manufacturer, we want
to enable as many different uses as possible."
In addition to a trailer with an evacuation and flood protection module from Goebel Fahrzeugbau, the mobile disaster responders are also equipped with a forest fire protection module from Brandschutztechnik Görlitz. Also included are an HPC HY K5/B FW front winch and a platform from Eggers Fahrzeugbau.
With the permanently installed Palfinger loading crane of the type PK 12.501 SLDA behind the cab, the integrated ISO container mounts and the so-called special logistics trailers (SDAH-L), a rapid module change is also possible off-road — where swap-body vehicles can no longer be deployed, as Hajo Brunsiek points out.
"From a technical point of view, as a vehicle manufacturer we want to enable as many different uses as possible so that the teams can respond flexibly and with full confidence in the vehicles' capabilities on site," explains Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks' fire expert.
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The autonomous module swap with a crane enables rapid adaptation to variable operational situations.
Equipped and trained for emergencies.
The multifunctional vehicles will be stationed in all 26 districts and urban municipalities in Hesse. In this way, the Ministry of the Interior is ensuring that municipal fire departments have access to the Unimog's special capabilities, which take statewide and cross-state disaster relief to a new level.
The emergency personnel at the respective sites are familiarised with the options and special features of off-road deployment with the Unimog in special training courses. The Unimog general distributor KBM Motorfahrzeuge GmbH & Co. KG from Limburg is also involved as a project partner of the State of Hesse.
Project implemented with Unimog general representative KBM Motorfahrzeuge GmbH & Co. KG
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