The prolonged drought in Europe is causing problems for people and nature. More and more fires exacerbate the problem. The current fire situation in Germany.
Munich – The current drought is causing severe damage across Europe. Rivers dry up almost completely – such as the Loire in France, harvests are endangered and last but not least: there are fires. In Italy, in France, in Croatia and also in Germany. And the damage continues to spread. Now, among other things, the rail traffic is affected. And that shouldn’t have been the last time.
Embankment fires temporarily hampered long-distance Deutsche Bahn traffic in Lower Saxony on Friday morning. The connection between Hanover and Magdeburg was restricted on Friday morning, as a railway spokeswoman said. A cable was damaged by the fire between Magdeburg and Helmstedt. The long-distance trains had to be diverted for almost an hour before the route was released again.
In Eschede (Cele district), an embankment fire had already caused restrictions between Hanover and Hamburg on Thursday evening. According to Deutsche Bahn, the route had to remain completely closed for more than three hours – the affected long-distance trains were waiting at stations or were diverted. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), there is a high risk of vegetation and forest fires throughout the weekend.
Fire in the Harz National Park: “Inferno of Flames” must be prevented
Another fire broke out in Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday. The Harz National Park near Schierke is affected here. The fire was brought under control for the time being. But the extinguishing work is still difficult. “There are areas that we can’t walk into,” said the head of operations at the Wernigerode fire brigade, Marco Söchting, on Friday. The emergency services would have to try to extinguish the fire from a safe position. “We have a lot of dry wood there, also called dead wood, which burned up to the treetops overnight and also during the day yesterday,” explained Söchting. “With freshening winds they break off at the top.”
The fire was reported on Thursday as a small fire, but quickly moved on due to updrafts, said Söchting. So far, the forces have at least managed to keep the fire at bay. According to the information, an area of 13 hectares is affected.
One has the situation of the forest fire in Saxony in mind, said District Administrator Thomas Balcerowski (CDU). It is important to prevent underground fires from continuing to find fuel. A similar “flame inferno” as in Saxony must be prevented in the next few days.
Forest fires and wildfires in the Karlsruhe area: External influence possible
After several forest and wildfires in the Karlsruhe area, the police do not rule out arson. At the same time, a police spokeswoman emphasized on Thursday: “We are investigating in all directions.” Spontaneous combustion is less likely, but negligence – for example through discarded cigarettes – is also taken into account.
Forest fire in the Taunus: cloud of smoke visible as far as Frankfurt
A forest fire in the Taunus on Thursday caused several fire brigades in the region to make a major effort – the cloud of smoke was sometimes visible as far as Frankfurt. After the police initially reported a smaller, controlled fire near Königstein (Hochtaunuskreis) in the morning, this spread further. The fire was extinguished in the evening. Around 6 p.m. it was “fire out”, as reported by district fire chief Norbert Fischer. However, post-extinguishing work is still necessary to combat embers, for example.
An area of about six hectares was affected by the forest fire. At times, up to 250 firefighters were on site. Four emergency services were injured, two of them had to be taken to a hospital. The spokesman for the fire brigade in Königstein, Christoph Schwarzer, spoke of a “massive operation”.
In terms of dimensions, the fire does not come close to other major forest fires in other parts of Germany recently. In the fire in the Grunewald in Berlin a few days ago, almost 50 hectares were in flames – that is about 500,000 square meters. In the forest fires in the rear part of Saxon Switzerland on the border with the Czech Republic, 150 hectares were affected on the Saxon side alone.
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