The Teutonic Council

   This information was copied from "Your Are Halle"​   

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The professional fire brigade is currently visiting from Halle's twin city of Savannah. Brooke Mollenkamp will be in the city on the Saale until next week, where she will get to know different areas of the fire brigade – like this. for example, the rescue service, water rescue or the German system for fire detection. The volunteer system of volunteer fire brigades in Germany is also introduced to the visitor from Savannah. On Tuesday, there was a height rescue training in the Berlin Bridge, which took place inside the pylons. Due to its slope, this is a special challenge.   43-year-old Brooke Mollenkamp has been with the fire department for 13 years now, 5 of them as a fire inspector. Above all, it is responsible for preventive fire protection, for example the testing of sprinkler systems.   "I'm a curious person and have always enjoyed getting to know new things," says Mollenkamp about her trip to Germany. And that's when she got to know some differences. Savannah's professional fire department (the city has no volunteer fire departments) has 15 different stations – while the BF has two locations in Halle and three locations in the future with the new Third Station. However, only 3 to 8 people work in the respective stations. While in Germany the fire brigade must be at the scene 8 minutes after the emergency call, in Savannah it is 4 minutes after the so-called "emergency call". The vehicles in Savannah are also larger and have red (Germany blue) lights, but are manned by fewer people.   Another difference to the USA is the longer training in Germany. The firefighters complete one several times a week, while in the USA there is a training camp every three to four months. Mollenkamp herself loves the 24-hour shifts – they are scheduled every three days. "You have a whole day to yourself," she said, pleased about the days off in between. Even as a teenager, she did a lot of sports, such as playing basketball, was very active – so it made sense to join the fire department.   After her internship with the Halle fire brigade, she will go on a short sightseeing tour. Bamberg, Regensburg, Dresden and Prague are on the tour plan.   "This is city friendship in action," says Tobias Teschner, head of the security department in the city administration, about the visit. Previously, Sandra Hoffmann from Halle had already been to the US twin city. As part of her training as a senior firefighter, she wanted to do an internship abroad – and the previous fire chief, Robert Pulz, came up with the idea of the twin city. There, Hoffmann also got to know the various areas of the fire department, lived with Brooke Mollenkamp during the time - and now the return visit, so to speak. Hoffmann quickly noticed a big difference during her visit: While the fire brigades in Germany are more sensitive, the crowbar is used faster and more frequently in the USA. This is mainly due to the different ways in which houses are built in the two countries. While in Germany most of the buildings are built with stone, most houses in the USA are built with beam constructions

.​U.S. firefighter Brooke Mollenkamp is doing an internship at the fire department in Halle (Saale) – You are Halle (dubisthalle.de)