From August 12th to 29th, children from 40 primary schools in the Wartburg district were able to try out being firefighters during the student project weeks at the Fire Service Technical Center (FTZ) in Immelborn. For 16 years now, the district’s 4th grade primary school children have been invited to experience fire service work first hand.
“Our goal is to get students excited about the work of the fire brigades in their villages and towns at an early stage. We have to train our children properly, because this is where the next generation is growing up. The insight that the primary school students receive into practical fire brigade training at the FTZ is fundamental for dealing with and behaving in dangerous situations. It sharpens the individual’s sense of responsibility and promotes teamwork,” emphasises District Administrator Dr. Brodführer during his visit to the FTZ.
With the project weeks, the district is providing an important impetus in fire safety education in order to arouse young people’s interest in the subject of firefighting. The involvement of the 150 volunteers from the various towns where the primary school children live creates direct points of contact and offers them a valuable insight into the work of the local fire departments. This is not only intended to increase interest in volunteering, but also to secure young talent for the fire departments in the long term. To ensure that this is successful, the children are taken to the fire service technical center in special buses and picked up again after a shared lunch – there is pasta with “fire service sauce”.
This year, around 1,450 children were there and were able to learn at various stations in the morning how fires start, spread and can be fought. They practiced making an emergency call, were shown firefighting and special vehicles and had the opportunity to drive a turntable ladder to a height of 30 meters. The students went through a breathing apparatus training course and learned how to use small fire extinguishers. In order to give the children a better understanding of the fire departments in their town or municipality, they are looked after by volunteer firefighters from the respective catchment area of their schools.
“My thanks go to the numerous volunteer firefighters who supported us here at the FTZ for three weeks. Some of the helpers were even on site for several days. I am particularly pleased that Ruhla’s mayor Stefan Hartung gave us Falk Braun, who actually works in the construction yard, time off for the entire project days. Special thanks also go to Ruhla’s city fire chief Matthias Kleinsimon, who, as in previous years, is involved every day,” emphasised district fire inspector Christian Grebe. “As far as I know, our project is unique in Thuringia and is very well received by the pupils because they can experience firefighting work first hand, but at the same time can also get involved at individual stations,” Grebe continued.
Chemical protection suit is looking for a name
The chemical protection suit floated over the FTZ grounds in its distinctive green color. The question of the name of the companion at high altitude arose and it quickly became clear: he still has no name. District Administrator Dr. Michael Brodführer and District Fire Inspector Christian Grebe quickly decided to launch an appeal and encourage all participating primary schools to find a name for the green helper. All primary school classes that took part in the project weeks this year can now send their name suggestions to the Wartburg District Office. “We are very excited to see what great ideas we will receive from the primary school classes,” says a delighted Grebe.
The Fire Service Technical Centre in Barchfeld-Immelborn is one of only four such facilities in ThuringiaOpened in 1998, the technology used in regional fire and disaster protection is available for use here. The FTZ is a training center for fire departments from the entire region and neighboring districts. The fire departments can also make use of services – for example, washing their hoses, having their respiratory protection equipment checked and maintained, and using the respiratory protection training facility.
