There are fires in the Saxon Switzerland National Park and in neighboring Bohemian Switzerland. The weather hardly helps. In the south of Brandenburg, the emergency services have requested reinforcements.
- Federal Defense Minister Lambrecht has announced that she will get an idea of the situation in Saxon Switzerland on Monday
- New sources of fire in Saxon Switzerland : spokesman for the district draws a gloomy balance.
- Forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district in Brandenburg : More emergency services have been requested.
- This news ticker on the fires in Saxon Switzerland and the Czech Republic (Bohemian Switzerland) and in Brandenburg is continuously updated.
Update from July 31, 9:35 p.m .: The spokesman for the district of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains, Thomas Kunz, drew an interim balance in the evening of the German Press Agency in Berlin. The fire is now limited and “the limited area[…] [one] can overlook”, but new embers keep appearing, according to Kunz.
On Sunday, July 31, 2022, 560 forces were deployed at the Czech border, as well as twelve helicopters and a water cannon from the Bavarian police. According to the authorities, the area affected by the fires is now stable at between 140 and 150 hectares.
According to Kunz, the emergency services are concerned that the fire has penetrated the humus layer. “The fire spread[..] as a result “under the feet of the fire brigade.” Barriers in the ground, which are filled with a special foam, could cool the ground, but the further development depended on the weather. Rain is forecast for this Monday. How effective this will be, however, is still unclear.
Forest fire in Saxon Switzerland: situation remains tense – hundreds of emergency services on site
Update from July 31, 8:10 p.m .: The flames in Saxon Switzerland are not only extremely persistent, but also dangerous. The “dynamic fire events”, as the spokesman for the district of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains, Thomas Kunz, puts it, is now being fought by 500 emergency services. In addition, Sachsenforst employees are in the process of pulling apart dead wood from adjacent forest areas and rangers from the Saxon Switzerland National Park are on site to support emergency services with their local knowledge.
On the Czech side, 750 firefighters from all over the country are fighting the flames. “Because of the challenging terrain, the work is progressing relatively slowly,” said a spokeswoman for the emergency services on Sunday, July 31, 2022, on CT public television. So far, eight emergency services have been injured on the Czech side, several of them seriously. In Saxony, four people suffered injuries fighting the flames, two of them had to be hospitalized. The current fire in Aubais, France, about halfway between Nîmes and Montpellier, shows how dangerous a forest fire can be. Four firefighters were also injured.
Forest fire in Saxon Switzerland: Federal Defense Minister announces herself
Update from July 31, 5:50 p.m .: On Monday, August 1, 2022, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) wants to travel to Saxon Switzerland to get her own picture of the fire. Among other things, a helicopter flight over the affected area in the Schmilka region is planned. According to the State Chancellery in Dresden, she will be accompanied by Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) and Bundeswehr General Carsten Breuer. Lambrecht can be expected from 2.30 p.m., a press statement has been scheduled for 3.35 p.m.
Forest fires in Germany: only 15 minutes of rain – “the situation is still very tense”
Update from July 31, 1:30 p.m .: The situation with the forest fires in Saxon Switzerland is “unchanged tense”. The Pirna district office announced this on Sunday. The fire wanders in the humus layer of the forest floor, sometimes 40 to 50 centimeters deep. A blanket of foam is to be created to further contain the fire. To do this, the soil would be torn up by hand with hoes and dung forks, and helicopters would drop a special mixture of water and wetting agent. 12 firefighting helicopters support the around 360 forces on the ground from the air. During the day, the forces should be increased to 500.
Forest fires in Saxon Switzerland: Super Puma in action
Update from July 31, 11:13 a.m .: Four Super Pumas are currently being used to extinguish fires in the Saxon Switzerland National Park. The federal police tweeted this on Sunday morning. The federal police share a short video from the point of view of an operator. However, scenes in the short clip are only for people with a head for heights. You can see the perspective directly from the helicopter, how the fire extinguisher containers (“Bambi Buckets”) take water from the Elbe and then drop it over the forest fire area (up to 2,000 liters).
New sources of fire in Saxon Switzerland: spokesman for the district draws a gloomy balance
Update from July 31, 11:03 a.m .: Numerous new sources of fire have been registered in Saxon Switzerland, the MDR reported. Their number is currently higher than that of the extinguished fires, said the spokesman for the district to the station. Emergency services had begun to cut aisles and create natural barriers to prevent the flames from spreading, especially over the deeper layers of the forest floor. From the current 360 to 500, the forces are to be increased over the course of the day. 14 helicopters would support the extinguishing work from the air.
Forest fire in Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic – That’s the situation on Sunday
Update from July 31, 9:23 a.m .: Dense fog currently makes the use of fire-fighting helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft in the Bohemian National Park impossible. However, the Czech fire service command remains optimistic. Six helicopters and five planes can take off on Sunday, she said on Twitter. According to the Czech police, the flight conditions should be good.
In Bohemian Switzerland, on the Czech side, firefighters have been able to contain the forest fire in an area for five days, the Ústí Region Fire and Rescue Service tweeted. Hard-to-reach places in the national park are to be cleared further in the morning.
Fight against forest fires: Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland brings rain no relaxation
First report from July 31, 2022
Bad Schandau/Falkenberg – The forest in the Saxon Switzerland National Park and also on the Czech side, Bohemian Switzerland , has been burning for seven days. It’s a tremendous feat. On Saturday alone, 560 emergency services fought against the flames. 13 helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft support the fire-fighting work from the air. An easing of the situation is currently not in sight.
It rained heavily for only 15 minutes, said the spokesman for the district of Saxon Switzerland-Osterzgebirge, Thomas Kunz, on Saturday evening of the German Press Agency. The only effect was that because of the precipitation, smoke rose from embers and these became visible. “If the weather doesn’t change, there’s no chance of improvement,” said Kunz. An end to the operation is not in sight. “We no longer calculate in days, we calculate in weeks,” he said. “The situation is still tense.” About 150 hectares of forest are burning in Saxon Switzerland. The fire brigades are also in constant use on the Czech side. There burns an area of 1060 hectares.
Forest fires in Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland (Czech Republic)
- Saxon Switzerland : About 150 hectares of forest are affected by forest fires – an area almost the size of the island of Helgoland.
- Bohemian Switzerland : There, an area of 1,060 hectares burns.
Injured in forest fires in Bohemian Switzerland and Saxon Switzerland
According to the German authorities, four firefighters have been injured in the operation so far. Two of them had to be hospitalized. There have been no injuries among the population so far. In the Czech forest fire area, a firefighter was hit and seriously injured by a falling tree on Saturday afternoon. Since the forest fires began, 37 firefighters have been injured so far.
Forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district in Brandenburg: other emergency services have been requested
In the forest fire area in southern Brandenburg, the emergency services have meanwhile requested reinforcements. Because summer temperatures were predicted without significant precipitation, further fire protection units had been requested from the country, the Elbe-Elster district announced on Saturday evening. “This situation carries the risk of flaring fires.” (ml with dpa material)
You can read about the developments to date regarding forest fires in Germany here.
