Contaminated firefighting gear is no longer a marginal issue for fire departments. Soot, smoke condensates, and carcinogenic substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) become embedded in protective clothing—hence the term „firefighter’s cancer.“ Proper laundering is therefore not a matter of convenience, but of health protection. However, not every volunteer fire department has the size, budget, or workload to operate its own laundry facility economically. More and more fire departments are solving this with a simple principle—laundry pooling: One fire department purchases the equipment and, in addition to its own gear, also washes the protective clothing of several neighboring fire departments.
What is the pooling model all about?
Instead of each local fire department purchasing its own washing machine and drying cabinet, a central station handles this task for several fire departments in the area. Members of the participating fire departments bring their contaminated uniforms there, where they are properly washed, disinfected, and dried before being returned to their respective stations. This eliminates the need for individual small fire departments to make their own investment, while at the same time increasing the utilization of the central laundry facility—and thus its cost-effectiveness.
Real-World Examples
This model is not an exception among STAHL customers, but rather standard practice in many regions. At the Scheßlitz City Fire Department, for example, uniform manager Achim Bärenstrauch is responsible for the complete cleaning of uniforms for a total of 19 fire departments in the city: Colleagues from the affiliated fire departments bring their uniforms, boots, and ropes to Scheßlitz, where everything is professionally cleaned and dried before being returned to the stations. The situation is similar at the Neuburg an der Donau Fire Department, which has been laundering the uniforms of eleven local fire departments since late 2020. Before the partnership, it took 10 to 14 days to get cleaned protective gear back from an external service provider—with their own laundry facility, equipped with an ATOLL 290 and a TS 1300 drying cabinet, the PPE is often ready for use again on the same day. „Thanks to the STAHL machines, we now wash and dry our protective gear within a few hours,“ summarizes Commander Markus Rieß; on average, one to three wash loads—each consisting of six sets—are processed there daily. Since June 2025, the Neckartailfingen Volunteer Fire Department has also been using the ATOLL 140 and TS 1300 drying cabinet not only to clean the protective clothing of its approximately 70 firefighters, but also to wash clothing for neighboring fire departments using the same equipment.
The Benefits for Everyone Involved
- Faster deployment. Instead of waiting days for external service providers, protective clothing is often available again within hours when laundered centrally on site—as the example of Neuburg an der Donau clearly demonstrates.
- Lower investment costs per weir. Smaller fire departments do not need to set up their own laundry facilities; instead, they can make use of the capacity of an existing facility.
- Improved machine utilization. For the central laundry facility, investing in high-performance equipment—such as the ATOLL series or the TS 1300 drying cabinet—pays off more quickly because more laundry passes through the same machine.
- Consistent, documented hygiene standards. If laundry is washed centrally using standardized programs, all affiliated fire departments benefit from the same verified hygiene and decontamination standards—rather than from varying levels of quality provided by different external vendors.
What a pooling model needs
For this system to work, the central laundry facility needs sufficient capacity and reserves for peak times—such as a washer-extractor with a larger load capacity (such as the ATOLL 220 or ATOLL 290) instead of a small entry-level model, combined with a drying cabinet like the TS 1300 for gentle drying of jackets, pants, and accessories. Equally important are clear agreements between the participating fire departments—for example, through administrative associations or informal partnerships—to ensure that transportation, handoffs, and wash cycles are reliably organized.
Conclusion
Laundry pooling demonstrates that professional laundry technology isn’t just for large fire departments. When multiple fire departments collaborate, even smaller departments benefit from faster response times and certified hygiene—without each department having to make individual investments. Anyone considering whether a dedicated laundry facility is worthwhile for their own fire department or in partnership with neighboring departments is in good hands with STAHL, which has over 110 years of experience in laundry technology for fire departments.
Are you thinking about setting up your own laundry facility in collaboration with neighboring fire departments? Our team can advise you on the right combination of machines to meet your needs.