Pilot demonstration: Johanniter were “in flames” in Gumpoldskirchen

Pilot demonstration as part of the “TREEADS” project for a holistic fire protection system in the Gumpoldskirchen quarry.

DISTRICT OF MÖDLING. The Research & Innovation Department of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe has been active for many years in national and international research projects in the areas of social affairs, health, care and disaster protection.

“We are also involved in the EU-funded TREEADS project, which aims to develop a holistic platform for preventing and fighting forest fires and for reforesting areas after forest fires,”

says Birgit Schilcher, the Johanniter internal project manager of the TREEADS project, who reports: “As part of this project, the Austrian pilot demonstration took place in the quarry of Gumpoldskirchen (Lower Austria), organized by the Gumpoldskirchen Volunteer Fire Department and with the participation of several international project partners.”

Firefighting and reforestation

The pilot demonstration combined theory and practice, including demonstrating the fighting of various fire scenarios and simultaneously carrying out measurements to better understand the progression of fires. New AI-based technologies for predicting the progression of fires and planning resources and units were tested and demonstrated. “Another focus of the exercise in the Gumpoldskirchen quarry was drone-supported reforestation of difficult-to-access terrain,” said Schilcher. Two different types of drones were used on a trial basis: a drone from the Cypriot high-tech company Acceligence was used to demonstrate the large-scale dropping of so-called “seed balls” for reforestation, while the mega drone from the French specialist Electric Aircraft Concept was used to test reforestation by deliberately firing seed capsules developed as part of the project. In addition, AR helmets were tested, which were adapted by the company 8Bells to provide emergency services on site with important information and improve the safety of the first responders deployed.

Participants in the pilot demonstration included the Johanniter Research and the Gumpoldskirchen Volunteer Fire Department, the project coordinator from RISE Fire Research AS from Norway, employees of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing from Germany, the international company GlobalBioDesign, the French company Electric Aircraft Concept, the two companies Acceligence LTD and Eight Bells LTD from Cyprus, the Disaster Competence Network Austria, the Graz Fire Department and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania.

About the TREEADS project

47 organisations from 14 countries are working together on the EU-funded TREEADS project. The project’s goals include numerous prevention and precautionary measures to prevent forest fires from occurring as far as possible and to be prepared with the necessary resources in the event of an emergency. On the other hand, the aim is to quickly detect a fire outbreak and quickly contain the fire. Finally, reforestation will be carried out in such a way that future forest fires in this area are less likely.

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