Rickard Molarin has lived his entire life in Kårböle in Ljusdal municipality, where for nine years he also works as a volunteer at the fire brigade. When it started to burn in the summer, he got an alarm on his pager, and pulled out. He says he worked 30, 40 - sometimes 50 - hours in a row. 

- Nobody can change. So then it's just to keep going. 

For Assignment Review, Rickard Molarin says that he and many others depended on their own mobile phones. He shows a mast that made the phones work in the fire area where he worked. 

"We understood that if it were to go off we didn't have any phones, and then we couldn't talk to anyone," he says.

“Rachel is a big city tool”  

A well-functioning communication is crucial to effectively and safely fighting a forest fire. The rescue service uses Rakel, a radio system that also has police and ambulance.

The Swedish Agency for Social Protection and Contingency, MSB, is responsible for Rakel and writes on its website that it has "uniquely high operational reliability" and has coverage throughout Sweden. 

But Mission Review can tell you that Rachel worked poorly or not at all during many of the summer fires. A study involving over 600 firefighters and fire commanders shows that there were major problems in all ten counties - from central Sweden and up, where most forest fires raged. 

“Rachel is a big city tool, and it never works as soon as we leave the road. Totally worthless, ” writes a firefighter who served in Jämtland.

Six out of ten used their mobiles

Four out of ten, 39 percent, say that they were unable to communicate satisfactorily through the equipment available to the rescue service. The shortcomings pointed out are that there were too few Rakel units, short battery life and, above all, poor coverage. 

"Walking in a forest that burned without being able to contact anyone felt hopeless," writes a firefighter who served in Gävleborg. 

The survey also shows that a majority of firefighters - six out of ten, 63 percent - were referred to their own private mobile phone to communicate with other fire personnel or emergency management. 

In Gävleborg County, where the major fires ravaged Ljusdal, there were even more: 75%. 

- It's high numbers. Of course, it is not good at all to have to use your mobile phone. But if we are to get good coverage for Rakel, the municipalities must at a preparatory stage report where there are deficiencies in the coverage for Rakel, says Henrik Larsson, head of the rescue service unit at MSB. 

"We have realized that we have shortcomings" 

One of the summer's biggest forest fires hit Älvdalen in Dalarna - an area where Rakel did not have coverage and where coverage for regular mobile telephony was also very poor. 

But despite the fact that the rescue team in Dalarna on several occasions requested help, it took twelve days, while the big forest fire raged, before the MSB got an extra base station in the terrain and solved the problem with the lack of coverage. 

- Meanwhile, we tried different types of solutions. Showcasing a fire truck that amplifies the signal locally, we prepared for satellite telephony and then as the last resort have motorcyclists who could go out with information, says Johan Szymanski, emergency manager at Mora. 

Henrik Larsson at MSB says that the authority completely lacked real mobile base stations, but that MSB is now buying six mobile Rakel stations that will be deployed at some of the forest fire depots in the country already next summer. 

- We have realized that we have shortcomings. In the future, we will soon be able to get out mobile base stations for better coverage and avoid seeing these figures you are reporting, ”says Henrik Larsson.

Mission review reportage The forest fires were broadcast on Wednesday, January 23, 2019. You can see it on SVT Play.