Jena emergency services on their way to the disaster area in Rhineland-Palatinate

After units of the Jena fire department had been on standby since Thursday evening, the order to deploy units of the Jena disaster control team was given on Tuesday morning. Together with helpers from the Saale-Holzland district, the platoon set off with 8 vehicles to the Thuringia group's assembly point in Eisenach.

The requested support platoon, which is jointly manned by the German Red Cross and ASB, includes a command vehicle, a catering equipment vehicle to support the emergency services and flood victims, an equipment vehicle from the technical operations group and 5 team transport vehicles with a total of 26 helpers.

Department head Benjamin Koppe and the head of the Jena fire department, Peter Schörnig, bid farewell to the volunteers at the South Rescue Station in Göschwitz.

Benjamin Koppe says: "All the helpers were ready for action with vehicles and equipment within a few hours. The support in the crisis area will help the people on the ground and at the same time cost a lot of energy - the city of Jena would like to thank the emergency services for this."

"Sufficient additional forces are available for any operations in the Jena city area. Overall, the current situation also shows how important it is to have a well-equipped fire department and disaster control," says Jena's head of the fire department Peter Schörnig.