Hungarian Firefighters In Baghlan

Captain Tibor Nagy, the environmental, fire prevention, and occupational safety&health officer of the HDF PRT is responsible for organizing the fire prevention tasks and coordinating their fulfillment, and he is also the leader of the non-organizational fire squad. There are 18 soldiers in the 4-strong fire unit in weekly turns, who completed a two-week theoretical and practical training during their preparation for the mission back at home, at the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base. This training course – held by the ’full-time’ firemen of the helicopter base – ensures that they can do a quality job and able to act efficiently in case a fire breaks out.

There are two fixed 20,000-liter tanks at the base and with the help of them the firemen can ‘cover’ the whole area of the camp and put out the fire with water or foam, depending on its type. Moreover, there is also a mobile battalion autonomous fire-engine trailer (nicknamed ZATU) on the premises, which can be deployed anywhere with its capacity of 600 liters. The firefighters had to intervene on twice during the seventh tour of duty of the HDF PRT because of electric fires, but on both occassion they managed to bring the flames under control and extinguish the fires before they could cause a more serious problem.

Naturally, the firemen on duty do not work only when there is a fire – if it is necessary, they also participate in other activities. One of their key tasks for example is to provide regular protection for the landing, takeoff, and fueling of helicopters. Besides that, there are also some regular trainings where they practice the firefighting methods and refresh what they had learned, so that in an emergency thay can intervene quickly and confidently.