Seven and half thousand interventions in whole year. Railway firefighters also helped during floods

The largest number of interventions is traditionally attributed to technical interventions. Last year there were 5 500 of them. Most of the work had units from Prague, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec and Brno, while the statistics of calls were significantly increased by floods.

A challenging test for railway firefighters was the intervention at an accident in Dolní Lutyně, where a collision between a fast train and a truck occurred on 24 January 2024. Unfortunately, the driver of the train did not survive the collision. After liquidating the consequences of the accident, the railway firefighters had to remove the wreckage of the locomotive and several wagons from the track profile. They had to use an armoured recovery vehicle and other special equipment.

A very complicated intervention occupied the firefighters of Správa železnic during the collision of two trains in Pardubice on 5 June 2024. The accident claimed 4 victims and 27 injured persons. Firefighters had to rescue several passengers from the demolished railway car. Subsequently, they then had to dispose of the damaged locomotives and cars to get the main corridor running as soon as possible. The intervention took place during the operation on the line and the recovery of the wrecks was very difficult for the firefighters and Správa železnic’s staff.

The accident of a train set in difficult terrain was solved by firefighters of Správa železnic near Čisovice in Central Bohemia. On 2 May 2024, the train set ran away spontaneously and after 5 kilometres at a speed of approximately 100 kilometres it derailed.

The complex evacuation of dozens of passengers occupied railway firefighters at the accident of two trains at Prague's Balabenka on 18 September 2024. The accident occurred on a railway viaduct and the firefighters had to evacuate the passengers using high-rise equipment.

The real test was the September floods, which hit mainly the Moravian-Silesian and Olomouc Regions, but also other parts of the Czech Republic. In the end, there were 515 calls by railway firefighters in connection with the floods. The assistance consisted in the first phase mainly in removing dangerous alluvial deposits near bridges and transporting humanitarian aid by a road/rail vehicle, and later in pumping water from underpasses, cellars and manholes, cutting down uprooted trees, cleaning culverts and removing other consequences of the floods, also outside the railway. Some of the interventions lasted more than a week and the railway firefighters stayed on the site continuously for several days.

The Fire Rescue Corps of Správa železnic also completed a hundred tactical and verification exercises. The readiness of railway firefighters for large-scale events, where cooperation with the Integrated Rescue System is crucial.

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