It’s hot, confusing, logistically extremely demanding and often very protracted: wild and forest fires present firefighters with special challenges – and are occurring more and more frequently. Not only the tactics and technology but also protective clothing must be adapted to this phenomenon. Together with firefighters, manufacturer SEIZ has developed a special wild and forest fire glove.
When the command is ‘forest fire’ or ‘wildfire’, firefighters know the coming hours, and often even days, will be extremely demanding and strenuous. The terrain is usually impassable and difficult to survey, a water supply is only available in exceptional cases and the heat does the rest to make life difficult for the emergency services.
Due to climate change, forest and wildfires are occurring more and more frequently: 2022 was a record year both in Germany and in Europe. And unfortunately, there is much to suggest that more record years will follow. The fire brigades must therefore prepare themselves and adapt to the new situation. Protective clothing and gloves in particular play an important role in this.
‘In forest fire operations, the emergency services need gloves that are lighter than for house fires, but still very robust, resistant and, above all, non-flammable,’ says Dominik Hantke, Sales Manager at the German-based manufacturer SEIZ. That is why many people in practice resort to protective gloves for technical assistance. These are lighter than classic firefighting gloves according to EN 659 but consist mainly of combustible material. As a manufacturer and innovation leader in the field of firefighting gloves, SEIZ is considered a problem solver in the industry and is in constant exchange with firefighters. ‘In the process, the question came up whether we could not develop a glove that is specifically tailored to the needs of forest fires,’ says Hantke.
SEIZ set to work and developed the Magnus wildfire glove. Its palm is made of hard-wearing full-grain cowhide leather, reinforced between the index finger and thumb. The outer hand is made of flame-resistant modacrylic, which is underlaid with gel knuckle protectors. In addition, the flexible cuff is made of neoprene covered with modacrylic. The Magnus is certified according to ISO 16073 and may be worn as the sole protective glove for forest and outdoor firefighting. Its robust heat protection is proven by the EN 407:2004 standard for gloves against heat and/or flames. According to EN 388:2016 for protective gloves against mechanical risks, the Magnus achieves 3-4-3-3 values for abrasion, cut, tear and puncture resistance. The cut protection test according to ISO 13997 also certifies cut protection C. This means that the glove is also suitable for technical assistance.
‘The Magnus is very popular with firefighters and is also worn frequently in classic forest fire countries such as Greece and Spain,’ says Dominik Hantke.
For more information, go to www.seiz.de/information-en
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