Special PPE for use in fighting vegetation fires

In the case of such devastating fires as those in the Elbsansteingebirge and in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, hundreds of forces are deployed to the point of exhaustion against the flames. In times of climate crisis, forest fires are becoming more frequent and, above all, more severe. Heat, drought and wind turn fires into infernos. Even forests consisting only of pines are drier and, due to the essential oils and resins, like a fire accelerator in hot temperatures. A fact by which the renowned manufacturer comazo|protect had to react quickly.

By Vanessa Keppeler
25.10.2022

Firefighters face extreme situations when fighting vegetation fires. Unlike a house fire, which is extinguished after a few hours, a vegetation fire can rage for several days or even weeks. In hot summers, similar to this year, firefighters must expose themselves to extremely high temperatures. In these situations, firefighting forces usually wear three- or four-layered PPE, which is actually used for interior firefighting and an unnecessary physical burden. Especially during long firefighting operations, heat can build up in the body. In addition, to counteract overheating, the multi-layer protective clothing is taken off due to the enormous temperatures at the scene. This effectively deactivates the protective effect of the PPE.

This is where our two Fire Shirts in the signal color "yellow", which are in final development, now come into play. These are intended as the last protection against the flames to help fighting the vegetation fire. These shirts will be lightweight and robust, as well as flame retardant due to Aramide/Kermel®. In addition, they offer excellent sweat management through viscose from Lenzing FR® and are antistatic through the use of Belltron®. Requirements for modern heat protective clothing are complex, because heat stress is one of the biggest risk factors in demanding situations.