Episode 335: The Proactive Crisis Manager: How Berlin Fire Plans With Data | Frank Pohland at Interschutz 2026
Published
Episode notes
Many strategic plans end up on a shelf. Berlin's did not. Frank Pohland leads strategic planning for the Berlin Fire Department , and his team is putting Strategy 2030 into action.
Hello Smart Firefighting Community!
Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy.
This conversation was recorded on the floor of Interschutz 2026 in Hannover .
Berlin is an old, dense city with little room for new fire stations. The city grows and its population gets older. The department cannot grow at the same speed. So Berlin chose a new role: a proactive crisis manager for the city.
Frank explains how years of mission data now drive planning, EMS deployment, and the budget case for the future.
Topics covered:
Strategy 2030 and the shift from reactive to proactive
Limited resources in an old, densely built city
Moving from past mission data to predictive planning software
More vegetation fires in a green city
Resilience research: training hubs that prepare citizens for a power outage
Drones for scene reconnaissance and the autonomous future
Replacing a single 10-minute EMS goal with urgency-based response
A forecast of more than 600,000 missions a year
Exoskeletons, robotics, smart helmets, and intelligent nozzles
An open door for startups that want to work with Berlin
So take a listen to hear what he has to share.
Head to www.smartfirefighting.com to discover how SFF accelerates innovation for emergency responders, to find out when our next event is, or review our curated resources.
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