Stadtwerke Gießen is supporting the Grünberg-Reinhardshain volunteer fire brigade with the purchase of special lamps that can be attached to an emergency helmet.
Dense smoke obstructs visibility, and firefighters have great difficulty recognising what is on the ground just two metres in front of them. This is a common scenario when firefighters enter other people's homes to save lives. Lamps at least allow them to shed some light on the situation. "Our standard equipment includes a hand lamp," says Bernd Krug, fire chief of the Grünberg-Reinhardshain volunteer fire brigade. He knows from experience: "The lights do improve visibility, but only one hand remains free when we have them with us."
For this reason, the fire brigade in Reinhardshain purchased six special lamps a few years ago, which can be attached to the helmet if required. However, the fire department has a total of 19 firefighters. "As we have only had positive experiences with the special lamps, our decision was clear. In future, a helmet lamp should be part of everyone's equipment," explains Christian Münch, 1st Chairman of the Reinhardshain Volunteer Fire Brigade Association and employee at Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) in the heat supply department.
The money for the purchase of the lights was donated by SWG as part of its 75 good deeds. Christian Münch recently presented the cheque to Bernd Krug, Jörg Sprankel, deputy fire inspector of the municipality of Grünberg, and Martin Albohn, 2nd chairman of the Reinhardshain Volunteer Fire Brigade Association, during one of their regular training sessions. Fire chief Bernd Krug thanked them for their support and assured them: "The helmet lamps are guaranteed to serve us well during our operations."