On Tuesday, the fire brigade in Siegburg was called out on an unusual mission. A lorry threatened to fall into the Wahnbach. The driver apparently followed his GPS on unpaved ground. The emergency situation had already begun on Tuesday morning around 9 am, as the firefighters found out late in the night. A towing company had started the rescue. The truck had already completed a good part of the forest road when a dangerous situation arose in the evening: The truck threatened to fall into the Wahnbach.

Thomas Glatz, head of the Siegburg fire brigade, the next morning, in response to a GA request, described how he found the truck after the alarm was sounded at around 9 pm: "A tow truck was attached to the front of the truck and a tractor was attached to the rear by a farmer. But both could no longer do anything on the banks of the Wahnbach."

Glatz first had a digger from a civil engineering company move into the forest. The heavy construction equipment supported the truck at the front in such a way that it could not fall into the stream during the rescue operation. But that alone was not enough to free the vehicle: "The chassis was already on the ground," says Glatz. The wheels had completely sunk into the mud.

With a lot of "manpower" from a total of 22 full-time and volunteer firefighters, the wheels had been shovelled free. With the help of a fire brigade truck, the vehicle could then be stabilized bit by bit. With two pneumatic lifting bags, each capable of lifting twelve tons, the truck then came out of the mud bit by bit.

Around 4.30 a.m. the truck was freed. The firefighters pulled the trailer out of the forest. The driver had parked it in the morning to drive back through the forest. According to the fire brigade, the truck could be rescued in such a way that it was still ready to drive.

Original text: GA Bonn Translation: Mareike Graepel