Today, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) together with Deutsche Bahn (DB) successfully carried out the “Hot Quarter” fire protection and evacuation exercise in BER and the train station below.
This was a so-called “full exercise” in line with the EASA and/or ICAO guidelines. Two exercise scenarios were mastered. The first scenario consisted of a burning train in the station. The airport fire brigade had to start effectively tackling the fire within 15 minutes of the alarm. The second scenario consisted of a fire in the Terminal. Further aims of the exercise included the immediate evacuation of critical areas as well as the rescue of people with reduced mobility, establishment of an on-site mission command and checking the alert routes.
Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “The BER and the train station below are also safe when they work together. We were able to prove this to the responsible authorities with the “Hot Quarter” exercise. What is special about BER is that passengers can arrive and depart directly with the train or S-Bahn that goes under the terminal. This is unique in Germany and makes a joint exercise essential. I am grateful to all of the emergency services and for the exercise management for a job well done. A special thank you goes to the 800 volunteers and to Deutsche Bahn, without whom we couldn’t have provided the proof of safety”.
Alexander Kaczmarek, Group Representative of Deutsche Bahn for the State of Berlin: “Rail and air traffic are optimally linked at BER and that has now also been successfully proven by this exercise. We are pleased that the new train station under the terminal will soon be in operation. This will allow travellers to reach the airport in comfort and in an environmentally friendly way with both the S-Bahn as well as with regional and long distance trains.”
More than 800 volunteers and 40 employees of emergency services took part in the exercise, including the airport fire brigade, evacuation workers and assembly point managers. Some 15 employees of FBB and other external experts jointly formed the exercise management and control team. Due to the unique positioning of the train tunnel directly underneath Terminal 1, the FBB airport fire brigade was responsible for fighting the fire in the tunnel. The fire service personnel are specially trained in fighting fires in tunnels and are equipped with breathing apparatus and state-of-the-art extinguishing agents.
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