"Firefighting Team of the Year 2016" visits New York colleagues

From Lower Saxony to the huge American metropolis: last week, this dream came true for ten members of the Lehrte Volunteer Fire Department. The team was honoured in January as the "National Firefighting Team of the Year 2016" at the Conrad Dietrich Award Ceremony and presented with the so-called "Oscar of the firefighting sector". The prize: a trip to the "Big Apple" with all of its attractions, as well as unforgettable insights into the daily work of their American colleagues at the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). "Shadowing the team at the Training Academy, following their courses and talking to them about operational tactics in New York – that was a truly unique experience, and one that will stay with us for a long time," says Stephan Keil, spokesperson for the Lehrte Volunteer Fire Department.

A jury of experts, together with online voters rated the team from Lower Saxony as the "Firefighting Team of the Year" at the Conrad Dietrich Magirus Award. For the Lehrte Fire Department, traffic accidents are a major focus of its operations owing to its proximity to the Hannover-Ost motorway junction. To provide rapid and comprehensive help, they developed a special rescue concept. It was thanks to this, that they were able to free a seriously injured truck driver from his cab after a multi-truck pile-up on the Autobahn A2, connecting the Ruhr district with the German capital Berlin. For this outstanding team effort, the firefighters not only received the coveted Conrad Dietrich Magirus Award, but also won the trip to New York.