Portal fire department
A portal fire brigade is a fire brigade in whose protected area there is a traffic tunnel. Such fire brigades are specially equipped and trained for fires and accidents in road or rail tunnels.
The term portal refers to the entrance of a tunnel.
equipment
The operating time of conventional breathing apparatus is only about 30 to 40 minutes, while special long-term breathing apparatus (so-called oxygen circulation devices for short: SKG) can be used for longer periods. These are necessary because of a long drive into the tunnel and because of the long fire fighting . With these regeneration devices, breathing times of around four hours can be achieved. In addition, fire brigades of this kind, which can often be found in the Alpine region, have special fire fighting vehicles with rescue equipment and thermal imaging cameras for locating people in the thick smoke .
In the case of portal fire brigades, where railway tunnels are used, the vehicles must be designed as two-way vehicles so that they can either drive on the railway tracks themselves or be loaded onto special emergency trains.
The latest in fire fighting are unmanned fire fighting tanks that are remotely controlled. They usually pull a hose line behind them. An example of an unmanned vehicle would be the LUF 60 from the Austrian manufacturer Computer. The fire-fighting support vehicle (LUF) consists of a tank-like chassis of a small excavator and a snow cannon, which converts up to 500 liters per minute into a fine water mist. This water mist is shot up to 80 meters to the source of the fire, which is difficult to access. In addition to tunnels, they are also used in underground garages, subway shafts, but also industrial plants and major fires.