Millions of guests come to Neuschwanstein and the area surrounding the fairytale castle every year. Now a forest fire in the tourist stronghold in the Allgäu has kept fire brigades busy for days.
Pinswang – Two days after a forest fire broke out not far from Neuschwanstein Castle on the Austrian side, fire brigades were still fighting the flames on Monday.
But the fire is under control, said Angelo Schädle, commander of the Pinswang fire brigade in Tyrol. However, the post-extinguishing work would probably have to be continued until Tuesday.
Around 35 hectares of forest in the Pinswang area was affected by the fire, as previously reported by a spokesman for the Tyrolean police department. On average, around 150 emergency services have been involved in extinguishing the fire since the fire broke out on Saturday. In addition, five helicopters were used at times.
From the air was also deleted on Monday. Three machines were still flying, explained Schädle. However, the development of flames and smoke could largely be stopped. “Now it’s our turn to extinguish the remaining embers.” Rootstocks would also have to be cut open to find all the embers. From the Bavarian side, the fire brigades from Füssen and Schwangau came on Monday to support the extinguishing work.
The police have now initiated investigations into the cause, as the police spokesman said. First of all, however, the fire in Pinswang must be completely extinguished in order to be able to investigate properly.
The smoke column was also clearly visible from the German side on Saturday, the Bavarian police said. The location of the fire is only a few kilometers as the crow flies from the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle in impassable terrain.
Higher forest fire risk in the future
A few days ago, the authorities in Bavaria also warned of the increased risk of forest fires. Several district governments had therefore ordered observation flights in the Free State. This is intended to detect possible forest and wildfires from the air at an early stage.
The forest fire risk index of the German weather service showed a high or even very high risk of forest fires for large parts of eastern Germany and some parts of Bavaria. In the Free State, however, there was an increased risk of fire, especially in eastern Bavaria, for example in the Bavarian Forest. For most of Bavaria, the risk was given as medium.
The Federal Environment Agency points out that an increasing risk of forest fires must generally be expected in Germany in the coming decades. “This is mainly due to increased temperatures and reduced precipitation in the spring, summer and autumn months,” explains the authority. dpa
