The Bundeswehr has sent two NH90 transport helicopters to support firefighting operations in the Nordeifel and Hürtgenwald area of North Rhine-Westphalia, as a fast-moving wildfire threatened several hundred hectares and triggered evacuations in the Gey district. The aircraft, operating from Faßberg in Lower Saxony, are fitted with Bambi Buckets and can drop about 2,000 litres of water per flight.
Germany’s defence ministry requested the military support after local responders were no longer able to contain the spread with their own resources. Alongside the airlift, the Bundeswehr has committed two Büffel recovery tanks and soldiers to the operation, adding ground support to the aerial drops.
The NH90s belong to the Transporthubschrauberregiment in Faßberg, underlining the role of a domestic rotary-wing unit in rapid civil assistance during large-scale emergencies. The deployment provides extra lift capacity at a point when fire crews are facing difficult terrain and worsening conditions near the Belgian border.