NRW fire unit sent home after 36 hours: Spain no longer needs German wildfire help

A specialist wildfire unit from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is heading home after Spanish authorities ended its deployment barely 36 hours after it arrived. The decision, communicated on Sunday evening, brings an abrupt close to a mission that began with a three-day, 2,000-kilometre road convoy.

The deployment

More than 50 firefighters from Bonn, Düsseldorf, Leverkusen, Königswinter and Ratingen reached the north-western region of Castile and León on Saturday with a convoy of 21 vehicles. The unit, known as a wildfire module, had been requested by Spanish authorities through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. One team began work immediately, helping Spanish crews tackle a fire inside a nature reserve while the second team set up at the accommodation.

Conditions on the ground

Frank Frenser, a spokesperson for the Bonn fire service, described a landscape already scarred by days of intense burning. "You drive over a hilltop and behind it everything is burnt, everything black, like a lunar landscape," he said. The unit's main task was locating and extinguishing ember nests in the soil and in tree stumps, work Frenser called physically demanding in temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius.

With our tank fire engines we deliver a lot of water and also dig up the ground, check the vegetation, burnt tree stumps, and open them up.

He stressed that while water-dropping aircraft draw public attention, a wildfire can only be extinguished from the ground. A single ember nest left behind can reignite the fire with a gust of wind.

Accommodation and teamwork

The firefighters were housed in a former monastery with dormitories, a large kitchen and sanitary facilities. "We are staying in an old monastery, with a large dining hall, enough beds and sanitary facilities," Frenser said. "That is great. It means the logistics team can concentrate on other things instead of setting up tents and running showers." He described the unit as a well-rehearsed team that bonded immediately despite members knowing each other only from exercises and previous deployments. Cooperation with local authorities was smooth, and the German crews said they were learning from Spanish colleagues who manage vegetation year-round and fight fires every summer.

In winter they make sure the vegetation is maintained so it can be kept under control over the summer. And in summer, when it starts, they fight the fires. It is good to learn from them how they do it.

Early recall

By Sunday evening, Spanish authorities assessed that the situation had de-escalated and external help was no longer needed. The unit was told to stand down and is expected to begin the journey back to Germany later on Monday morning. The recall means the firefighters spent roughly as long travelling to the fire zone as they did working in it.