New management, increasing emergency service deployments and important future projects
The Darmstadt Fire Department has presented its 2025 annual report. The past year was marked by a change in leadership, a high number of rescue service operations, and important decisions regarding the future development of fire protection in the city of science.
Change at the top of the fire department
At the beginning of 2025, Fire Chief Johanna Herdt took over as head of the Darmstadt Fire Department. She succeeded Chief Fire Officer Johann Braxenthaler, who had led the fire department for the previous 19 years. Her farewell ceremony was held jointly with representatives of the professional fire department, the volunteer fire departments, as well as Mayor Hanno Benz and City Councilor Paul Georg Wandrey.
The number of fire brigade call-outs remains stable
The Darmstadt fire department was called out to a total of 2,772 incidents in 2025. This number of incidents remained almost unchanged compared to the previous year, which also saw 2,770 incidents.
The operations were divided into:
- 493 fire calls
- 1,259 technical assistance operations
- 1,020 false alarms
False alarms include, among other things, triggered fire alarm systems or home smoke detectors.
Significant increase in emergency medical services
In contrast, the number of emergency medical service (EMS) calls has risen significantly. The Darmstadt Integrated Control Center coordinated a total of 33,286 EMS calls in 2025. This represents an increase of approximately 2,000 calls compared to the previous year.
The rescue operations are carried out by the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Südhessen and the DRK Starkenburg GmbH.
The volunteer fire department provides important support
The city's four volunteer fire departments had a total of 194 active members in 2025. The previous year, there were 186.
Last year, the volunteers were called out to 270 incidents. The volunteer fire departments were particularly challenged during the heavy rain event at the Heinerfest on July 14, 2025, when numerous basements had to be pumped out.
They also supported the professional fire brigade in larger fires. For example, during a building fire in Darmstadt's city center on April 6, 2025, they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings.
Special forces and disaster relief exercises
The specialist units of the Darmstadt fire department were also called out several times. For example, the "Special Rescue from Heights and Depths" unit was repeatedly alerted to incidents involving crashed paragliders in neighboring districts.
Two large-scale disaster relief exercises were also of particular importance. During the exercise "The Great Sniffer," the new CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) measurement center at the Arheilgen fire station was inaugurated and the measurement concept for southern Hesse was tested.
During the "Hippocrates" exercise, emergency services tested procedures for a mass casualty incident. Participants included the fire department, aid organizations, hospitals, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), and the Merck plant fire brigade. Approximately 400 people took part in the exercise.
New main fire station approved
An important decision for the future was made in September 2025. The city council and the municipal assembly decided to build a new main fire station in Pfnorstraße.
In the future, the professional fire brigade, the control center, the administration, the rescue service provider, training areas, disaster control, workshops and logistics will be bundled at one location on a plot of land measuring approximately 25,000 square meters.
Preventive fire protection remains an important task
In addition to responding to emergencies, the fire department was also active in preventative fire protection. This included providing input in permitting processes, conducting fire safety inspections in particularly sensitive buildings, and carrying out numerous fire safety education and awareness campaigns.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/stip)
