Natural disasters such as forest fires are becoming more common and require particularly swift action from responders. This makes it all the more important to have solutions in place for getting equipment where it needs to be efficiently.
Climate change is having more and more of an impact. One example of this is the number of forest fires worldwide. While three million hectares went up in smoke in 2000, that total has now doubled to six million hectares. This is piling the pressure on responders, who have to overcome countless challenges when dealing with such disasters. Imagine that a forest on a mountainside goes up in flames and there are no passable access roads. How do you get firefighting equipment to the scene?
One option is to use large nets suspended from helicopters, but loading and unloading the nets takes a long time. That is why LES GmbH, Lenz Entwicklung und Sonderbau, a German specialist engineering and development company, has created a time-saving and cost-effective alternative. The nets are replaced by wheeled external-payload containers and platforms. These can carry a lot of equipment, such as a motor-driven pump with suction hoses, a 5000-litre water reservoir, firefighting backpacks, fire rakes and shovels. The wheeled container is just one example of the innovative civil protection solutions from Empfingen-based LES GmbH, which uses our modular aluminium profile technology in its products.
Turning a calling into a career
The five-strong team at LES GmbH has a very broad outlook. In addition to civil protection, the company’s portfolio includes custom development work and test bench design, as well as automation and radio-frequency engineering. Although it previously focused on test benches for internal combustion engines, declining demand has pushed civil protection into the foreground. “Everyone at the company is involved in the volunteer fire service and actively participates in voluntary civil protection. It’s not just a hobby – it’s a calling. There have already been lots of times when we’ve built equipment as part of this work. We have been able to use donated funds to cover the material costs,” explains Jörg Müller, a design engineer at LES GmbH.
Everyone at the company is involved in the volunteer fire service and actively participates in voluntary civil protection. It’s not just a hobby – it’s a calling.
Müller and his colleagues now want to professionalise their activities in this area. Although feedback is positive and demand growing, there are considerable challenges involved in producing solutions for volunteer fire services. With the exception of donations, they don’t have a dedicated budget, and new equipment is usually allotted to the fire services by the municipal authorities. Contracts are awarded via central tendering procedures. “In our experience, it’s the supplier with the lowest price that wins the contract, but we don’t want to compromise on quality. Despite everything, we’re confident that we’ll soon establish ourselves,” says Müller.
Diverse solutions for civil protection
So what exactly is civil protection? The European Union’s online database of EU law, EUR-Lex, defines the term as follows: “Civil protection is the protection of people, the environment and property against all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters.” Preparing for power outages and subsequent failures in infrastructure also comes under the same category. A trolley specially developed for this type of scenario incorporates a generator (3 kilowatts). It is used as an emergency electricity supply and for feeding power into a building. An attached light mast measuring three metres in length also provides additional lighting for the surroundings. A prolonged blackout could have very serious consequences for transport and logistics. For example, filling stations need electricity in order to operate, but few of them actually have emergency generators. LES GmbH has developed a system based on trolleys to help keep fuel flowing.
The trolley system uses a special pump to extract fuel from tanks, store it and dispense it, even during blackout conditions. The fuel can then be used to fill up vehicles and equipment.
LES GmbH offers mobile drinking water and hygiene systems for supplying potable water. The systems can be easily combined and extended.
When a disaster strikes, ensuring a dependable supply of drinking water is another crucial requirement. After all, humans can only survive two days without water. What’s more, clean water is also essential for maintaining hygienic conditions. LES GmbH offers mobile drinking water and hygiene systems for supplying potable water that satisfy the requirements of Germany’s Ordinance on the Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption. These systems can be easily combined and extended. Our modular aluminium profile technology fundamentally supports flexible design options. The team at LES GmbH is developing the containers to suit specific requirements precisely. Accessories vary according to the relevant application and can include fork pockets for compatibility with forklift trucks and load-handling attachments for cranes and helicopters. Besides producing its own solutions, the company also distributes numerous products for civil protection applications.
The benefits of item profile technology for handling and flexible adaptation
The team at the company is very familiar with item profile technology through its work on test benches and automation technology. They have used it from the very start of their work on civil protection solutions, whether for frame structures for trolleys or flight pallets. “We really like working with item. The components are light and easy to handle. Everything is really stable and high-quality,” emphasises Müller. Another key advantage of our profile technology is its flexibility. “You often only realise when you’re on the ground that it would be good to have another pump or shovel or some other equipment. Thanks to the modularity offered by item, it’s easy to add another suitable holder to the wheeled container. Similarly, if I need more space, then I can remove a profile and move another one a little.” Basically, there are no standardised solutions when it comes to fighting a fire. The right approach and, therefore, equipment varies depending on the circumstances on the ground – the region, vegetation, buildings and industrial facilities. None of these factors are fixed, so there must always be the option to re-equip. This is where the item Building Kit System really comes into its own.
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