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Lower Saxony relies on helicopters to fight forest fires!
In 2025, Lower Saxony will increasingly rely on helicopters for effective forest fire fighting, confirmed by positive experiences on site.
Lower Saxony relies on helicopters to fight forest fires!
Lower Saxony has made a strategic change in the fight against forest fires. Instead of relying on firefighting aircraft, which have been used mainly abroad in recent years and only once in Saxony-Anhalt, the state will increasingly focus on helicopters in 2025. The Interior Ministry sees this step as confirmation of its decision, which is specifically tailored to the geographical and climatic conditions of Lower Saxony. Interior Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) highlights the positive experiences from the past and emphasizes the flexibility of the helicopters, which can even land on makeshift landing pads and thus enable more frequent water drops. The NDR reports that helicopters can drop twice as much fire-fighting water as conventional aircraft due to shorter flight distances.
The situation last summer was revealing. Both police helicopters and a fire-fighting aircraft were used in a forest fire in Goslar that lasted several days, although the aircraft was only able to fly to a limited extent due to increasing winds. During the intensive firefighting period, it turned out that the helicopters dropped four times as much water and were therefore more effective. These findings led to Lower Saxony now specifically relying on helicopters to meet the requirements of fighting forest fires in the region. In 2023 and 2024, two firefighting aircraft were stationed in Braunschweig, but they hardly contributed to fighting the fire on site - instead they often flew in other European countries. And those too n-tv adds that two state police helicopters and helicopters from a third-party provider are available in Lower Saxony.
Training and operational readiness
To ensure that the emergency services are well prepared, the Federal Police helicopter squadron in Gifhorn and other units train regularly. These exercises take place around three to six times a year, mainly in spring, in order to be optimally prepared for the forest fire season. Close cooperation with the fire department is particularly emphasized and is considered important in order to increase the efficiency of operations. The special needs of forest fires are also addressed, such as: Time reported.
Another example of adjustments in Lower Saxony is the Harz district. It has signed a contract with a Polish company for a fire-fighting aircraft until 2028, making it the only district in Germany that relies on both ground forces and air support with a fire-fighting aircraft. However, the main focus is clearly on the use of helicopters.
Overall, it appears that Lower Saxony seems to be on the right track with its decision to rely more on helicopters. To ensure that the forests can continue to be protected in the future, the state continues to search for optimal solutions for firefighting, while the helicopters already play a crucial role in daily operational planning.