They are called FRIEDA or FuKS-ST, or, to be more technical, FwA 16/2. We are talking about fire service apps developed by the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and already in use by fire services in central Germany. These apps are now being given powerful new features. In the event of wildfires and in areas with limited water supplies, these apps enable fire services to plan the transport of water for firefighting more effectively. The enhancements will be presented by the development team at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, led by Professor Bastian Pfleging, at the ‘Florian 2026’ trade fair, which takes place in Dresden from 8 to 10 October 2026.
Specifically, the extensions can calculate the delivery of fire-fighting water over long distances as well as its transport via shuttle services – a module of tactical relevance. “The new functions are based on established calculation models and make it possible to plan complex water-carrying operational scenarios directly on the iPad – quickly, precisely and in a transparent manner,” explains Marc Schrön, scientific assistant at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
The new features in detail
Transporting fire-fighting water over long distances
The new features significantly simplify and speed up the planning of water supply routes for the fire services – for example, in the case of forest and vegetation fires or remote properties.
The app now automatically calculates:
• the required pump spacing, as well as the number and position of the booster pumps needed
• pressure losses depending on hose size, pipe length and volume of fire-fighting water
• differences in elevation and their impact on delivery pressure
• the performance of parallel pipelines
• the achievable flow rate along the entire pipeline route
A key technical feature of the new functions is the ability to use high-resolution terrain data offline within the respective apps. Only by using a specially developed compression method can the elevation data from the digital terrain models be compressed to such an extent that the complete model can be stored directly on the tablet and used to calculate elevation profiles and pressure conditions. The functions relevant to fire-fighting water supply are therefore fully available offline, even in remote regions with poor mobile network coverage.
Transporting fire-fighting water by shuttle service
The app supports the calculation of:
• the required number of fire engines
• response times
• variably adjustable filling, emptying and preparation times
• journey times depending on distance and speed, whereby realistic speed profiles can be assigned to the roads and routes used
• the continuous water flow achievable during shuttle operations
The planning and recording of fire-fighting water supply routes and the routes taken by the tanker fire engines can be carried out using both the map module and GPS tracking.
The app thus supports lower-level command staff in particular with the rapid assessment and planning of water supply during live operations, by providing a precise and practical tool for planning and comparing water transport and supply concepts quickly, reliably and in a manner suitable for operational use.
Fire services in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are using an app
With this latest update, the app responds to the growing importance of wildfire suppression, outdoor operations and operations in areas with limited water supplies. Calculations are carried out consistently in accordance with uniformly defined technical rules and help managers make well-founded and transparent tactical decisions, even under time pressure.
The new functionality will be made available for registered service devices via an update to the iPadOS app following the ‘Florian 2026’ trade fair, and will then be accessible in the FwA 16/2, FRIEDA and FuKS-ST apps.
