The Aarau residents’ council has rejected the emergency service station – why is one checked anyway?
The Aarau city council wanted to build an outage-protected filling station for blue light organs in the depot. The residents’ council, however, excluded the item from the budget. The topic is not out of the question for this reason.
If the power goes out everywhere, gas stations can no longer operate. So?
After all, the Aarau region should now have an emergency service station. The regional commission for civil protection and civil protection of the Aare region (ZSO) has approved a preliminary project. A working group led by André Gautschi, head of the regional management body (RFO), is already considering. The background is originally an order of the cantonal management personnel (KFS) to examine where such systems make strategic sense.
Review: The city council had requested a loan of 100,000 francs from the 2023 budget for the construction of an “emergency vehicle refueling system” protected against power outages. “In extraordinary situations (blackouts, natural disasters), the emergency vehicles (fire brigade, police, depot, civil protection) must function independently of the local supply network”, was the reasoning. The design application for the 40 cubic meter diesel tank at the depot was already public.
But the residents’ council thwarted the city council’s plans. By 23 votes to 15, it approved a request for deletion by Alexander Umbricht (GLP) and Alois Debrunner (SP). First, they argued that the balance sheet did not show whether there was coordination between the city and the canton. Secondly, it is not clear to them why no existing filling station is equipped with an emergency power interface. And third, they didn’t want to make any further investment in “fossil infrastructure”: “In the medium term, it is more likely to look into how electrically propelled emergency vehicles can be refueled in the event of a blackout,” they wrote.
As RFO chief André Gautschi now says, it is highly unlikely that a new gas station will be built, as the Aarau city council once envisaged, but rather a cooperation with an existing gas station. “However, only those that can be driven with tall and heavy vehicles are suitable for this,” he says. For example with a large fire truck. The petrol station manager must also be prepared to always keep a certain reserve of fuel in stock. All necessary framework conditions would be recorded accordingly in a contract.
How many of these emergency filling stations are needed in the catchment area of the ZSO Aare region (or RFO Aare region) is being evaluated, says Gautschi. The results should be available in February. The nine municipalities of Aarau, Biberstein, Buchs, Erlinsbach (AG/SO), Küttigen, Suhr, Ober- and Unterentfelden are affected. “When choosing the location of the filling station(s), particular attention is paid to ensuring that each of the nine associated municipalities can benefit equally,” says Gautschi.
