38 Rescue work, putting out fires, and protecting the public are all part of a day's work for the Greifswald Volunteer Fire Department. Emergency personnel and specialists in the department are responsible for responding to a wide range of emergencies. Ultimately, they are tasked with reacting immediately to emergency calls and initiating rescue measures. To ensure they can do so, the fire department’s technical equipment needs to be state-of-the-art – including high-quality and reliable electric operating equipment. With around 60,000 residents and an area of approx. 51 km², Greifswald is the fourthlargest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In this university town and Hanseatic city, the Greifswald Fire Department is an essential municipal institution which ensures fire safety throughout the urban area. A committed team of volunteer fire fighters comprising over 100 members is an essential part of that protection, and supports professional fire fighters in both large deployments and in maintaining fire safety throughout Greifswald. They not only respond to fires, but also provide technical assistance to handle animal strikes or transport injured persons. Of risks and rescuers The calls fire departments respond to today are diverse – and so are the devices and equipment they need for their deployments. Because of this, the technical equipment fire departments use has changed significantly in recent years, as Norbert Stawinski, Operational Planner for professional fire fighters, reports: “More and more battery-operated devices, like radios, thermal imaging cameras, heavy cutting equipment and chainsaws, are coming on the market and therefore into rescue departments and the fire department’s equipment rooms”. The Greifswald Fire Department knows these battery-powered devices can be not only life-saving, but also hazardous: “We have definitely seen an increase in deployments due to defective lithium-ion batteries. These are usually caused by laptops, cell phones, or electric bikes”. To prevent such hazardous situations in the equipment room, the Greifswald Fire Department purchased an ION-LINE safety storage cabinet from asecos, where batteries can be not only stored, but also charged. After all, it is essential for this equipment to maintain its full capacity at all times, to be ready in case of an emergency. New challenges What makes lithium-ion batteries so dangerous is their fire behaviour, and Greifswald Volunteer Fire Department | Germany FIRE AND FLAMES “We have definitely seen an increase in deployments due to defective lithium-ion batteries”.
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