No fear of heights in an emergency – fire department rescue teams practice at the Spare Parts Center
When things get dicey at the very top, they come into play: the fire department for rescues at height. They are called to high-rise buildings, wind turbines, construction cranes—and occasionally high-bay warehouses. Recently, they rehearsed for an emergency situation at our plant in Kaltenkirchen.
Where spare parts for our customers all over the world are normally stored, the last weekend in August was all about an emergency drill: at our spare parts center in Kaltenkirchen, the new special unit of the district fire department rehearsed for an emergency. In front of shelves around 30 meters high, the firefighters simulated the rescue of an accident victim – and impressively demonstrated how safely and coordinatedly they work, even in extreme situations. The focus was on two emergency scenarios: rescuing a service technician in distress from a height of around 31.5 meters in the high-bay warehouse and abseiling a helpless person from a stuck EKX narrow-aisle forklift truck at a height of up to 16 meters.
It is no coincidence that the fire department is training in Kaltenkirchen: a plaque at the entrance gate to the spare parts center indicates the partnership with the fire department. Jungheinrich regularly makes its modern storage areas available for exercises, thus supporting the emergency services in their demanding training. “This is not something that can be taken for granted,” emphasizedthe local State Secretary of Interior Magdalena Finke, who took part in the exercise together with District Administrator Jan Peter Schröder and Kaltenkirchen's Mayor Stefan Bohlen. State Secretary Finke ventured up into the heights herself and was lowered to the ground – secured by the specialists.
With around 30 members, the rescue unit has been officially active in the Segeberg district since March. In addition to their normal firefighting duties, each member completes at least 80 hours of training at high altitudes each year.
