#ERGODIC

Global climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, such as torrential rains and prolonged periods of drought. Scientific research shows that a warming of just 0.5°C can increase the frequency of forest fires by 50% in the border region. The use of new methods such as aerial firefighting, which is the focus of this project, will help to combat forest fires.
The aim of the project is to facilitate the effective disaster management of forest and vegetation fires caused by extreme weather conditions by improving rescue and firefighting capacities the main pillar of which is the ground support for aerial firefighting.

The forest fires of recent years highlight the need to acquire and develop new capabilities not yet used in the partners’ rescue and fire protection systems to deal with extreme weather events.
In case of conventional ground firefighting, the delivery of extinguishing water to the fire area is often not feasible, due to the length of hoses, the distance between the area to be extinguished and the water supply point, and hot, smouldering areas could damage the equipment. It takes longer to install the main line and supply, which can take several hours and requires considerable human resources that are difficult to mobilise because of bottlenecks. In contrast, the mobile water reservoirs and additional equipment to be purchased under the project to facilitate ground support for aerial firefighting will enable to set up an efficient, rapid, cost-effective intervention system to increase the effectiveness of firefighting.

In addition to the purchase of the necessary equipment and tools, the development of human capacities is also essential for the management of cross-border disaster risks. In order to develop the capacity of volunteer firefighters, the project will organise a firefighting training course with a first aid module. In addition to general fire prevention and extinguishing skills, it is necessary to train our volunteer firefighters in the safe and professional use of the special equipment purchased under the project, including training in driving skills, drone use and chainsaw operation.
A bilingual training material will be developed, including specialised tasks for ground support of aerial firefighting, which will be firstly taught in theory and then consolidated by practical exercises.