Berlin Strengthens Disaster Response with 25 New Vehicles

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  Aid organizations in Berlin are receiving 25 new vehicles for civil protection.

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  Twenty-five new vehicles are expected to improve the resources available to aid organizations in Berlin.

Twenty-five new vehicles are set to bolster Berlin’s disaster response organizations. Personnel carriers, equipment trucks, and hose trucks were handed over by Senator of the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD) to the Red Cross, the Malteser Hilfsdienst, the Johanniter, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, the DLRG, and the volunteer fire departments.

The state of Berlin purchased 20 vehicles for 2.9 million euros; the federal government financed five additional vehicles at a cost of just under one million euros. The vehicles are to be used for incident command, assistance, medical treatment, logistics, and technical support in disaster response.

For example, a so-called hose truck can deploy up to two kilometers of water hoses to ensure the fire department’s water supply during large fires on the outskirts of town or in forested areas. Some of the vehicles were already delivered last week.

Mobile Emergency Generators for Government and Administrative Buildings

In addition, 24 mobile emergency generators are to be purchased next year using one million euros in federal funds. Each generator is capable of supplying power to a medium-sized government or administrative building, such as a police station. Additional generators are to be procured in the coming years at a cost of at least 1.6 million euros.

Spranger said that in an emergency, the goal is to establish the necessary infrastructure as quickly as possible. She cited major incidents such as the power outage that lasted for days following an extremist attack in January. Effective civil protection begins long before an emergency strikes, with the right equipment for the organizations and their often volunteer helpers.