250 firefighters on duty
Video shows Fire Hell in Bohemian Switzerland
Fire alarm in Germany: A forest fire that first broke out in the Czech Republic has now crossed national borders. The emergency services fight the flames. But the situation is getting worse.
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The sky is fiery red and full of smoke. Countless trees are on fire. A video by the Czech fire brigade shows how violently the fire is raging in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park. The emergency services cannot fight the fire. In the meantime, the inferno has even arrived in Germany.
From the area of the Prebischtor in the Czech Republic, the fire spread at great speed to the Saxon Switzerland National Park, the responsible district office in Pirna announced on Monday evening. For the municipalities of Sebnitz and Bad Schandau, the district office triggered a disaster warning.
A total of 250 firefighters and 39 vehicles were on site for the large-scale operation. They were supported, among other things, by two helicopters from the state and federal police. According to the district office, the operation was difficult because the area is inaccessible and there was a strong wind. According to the German weather service, wind peaks of up to 36 km/h were expected for the night.
Scout camp had to be evacuated
The forest fire broke out in the Czech Republic on Sunday morning. On Monday, several dozen people were evacuated from a tourist resort, a scout camp and the villages of Mezna and Mezni Louka in the area on the border with Germany, according to Czech fire department spokesman Milan Rudolf.
No one has been injured by the fire so far, but Czech Environment Minister Anna Hubackova (64) spoke on Twitter of a “critical” situation. 46 fire brigade units were deployed in the Czech Republic on Monday.
Forest fires are also raging in other parts of Germany. Because of a major fire in a forest area in southern Brandenburg, the authorities have ordered the evacuation of several towns. As the Elbe-Elster district announced on Monday evening, the villages of Kölsa, Kölsa-Siedlung and Rehfeld, which belong to the city of Falkenberg/Elster, were evacuated, and around 700 residents were affected.
“Big fire continues to spread”
When fighting the fire with around 400 emergency services, seven emergency services were injured, six of them had to be taken to the hospital.
A pig fattening facility in the Kölsa settlement also burned down. “A large number of animals died,” said the district.
The authorities had declared a major damage situation in the afternoon. The fire, which broke out for initially unknown reasons in a forest area with wind turbines, spread quickly, driven by violent gusts of wind. An area of more than 100 hectares was initially affected, but the area increased to around 800 hectares during the day and in the evening.
“The major fire continues to spread dynamically,” warned the district. The gusts of wind would make the extinguishing work “significantly” more difficult and sometimes even “impossible”. Fighting the fire could take several days. According to the information, the village of Marxdorf may also have to be evacuated. (AFP/jmh)
