07/26/2022 15:11 (act 07/26/2022 15:20)
Clouds of smoke darken the night sky over Brandenburg ©APA/dpa
The forest fires, favored by extreme drought, keep many European countries in suspense, but also Morocco in North Africa and the USA. In Germany, the fires in Brandenburg and on the Saxon-Czech border were out of control. On the Czech side, residents were evacuated because of the fire in a national park in Bohemian Switzerland. A volunteer firefighter died in Morocco.
The situation in the wildfire areas in Brandenburg and Saxony was still very critical – the fires were not under control. In Brandenburg, there was a fire in an area of forest and meadow covering 8.5 square kilometers – almost 1,200 football fields. The firemen’s association talks about this year’s biggest forest fire in Brandenburg. The area is partially contaminated by munitions. There was good news: the evacuation of two places could be suspended. During the forest fire in Saxon Switzerland National Park, the affected district raised a disaster alarm for Bad Schandau.
Near Rehfeld, in Brandenburg’s Elbe-Elster district, not far from the Saxony border, 350 emergency services prepare for a major fire in an 850-hectare forest and prairie area. Two German Bundeswehr firefighting helicopters supported the fire brigades from the air, three more were expected. A police helicopter helped in reconnaissance of the situation.
The fire area is partially contaminated with ammunition, so it is necessary to extinguish it from the air. As a result of blasts on the ground, new areas suspected to be used for munitions were discovered that had not yet been recorded on maps, Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stübgen reported in Falkenberg. The cause of the fire was previously unclear, but the location of the outbreak southwest of the area of operations is known, according to the minister.
In Saxon Switzerland National Park, the number of deployment sites around the Großer Winterberg has increased from three to five, according to a spokesperson for the district office. He was unable to provide any information on the exact area that was on fire in the rocky, impassable area. There are currently 254 federal and state firefighters and police officers on duty. Two water cannons, each with a capacity of 10,000 liters, and two helicopters are also on site to fight the fire. The water supply comes from the Elbe, for example. Four Bundeswehr helicopters would also provide support.
The fire spread from Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic to Saxon Switzerland National Park on Monday. Tourists were urged to avoid the Saxon Switzerland rear area as it was risky to life and limb, the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district office announced Tuesday. Already on Monday, 70 children who were at a summer camp in Ceska Kamenice were housed in Bad Schandau.
In the Czech Republic, the forest fire situation in the Swiss Bohemia National Park, near the border with Saxony, has reached a dramatic critical point. More than 400 firefighters battled the blaze on the Czech side on Tuesday, a spokesman said. They were supported by police and army helicopters. According to the Interior Ministry, eight firefighters were injured during the extinguishing work. Four had to be treated in hospital for smoke inhalation. The neighbors, therefore, were not injured.
Several buildings caught fire in the city of Mezna. Extinction work resumed in the morning after an overnight interruption. Emergency services also evacuated a children’s holiday camp with about 100 participants from Germany. The children and their caregivers were handed over to German helpers at the border.
More than 150 firefighters were at the scene to fight the flames. They are supported by police and army helicopters. The forest fire started on Sunday in an area originally about seven hectares. He is now threatening the Prebischtor with the “Hawk’s Nest” excursion restaurant. The rock formation is considered the symbol of the national park. As of Tuesday, smoke could still be felt in Prague, some 90 kilometers away, and beyond.
However, forested areas continued to burn in other parts of Europe, for example in Greece, where the risk of new fires remained high on Tuesday. However, emergency services reported a slightly improved situation. In the southern part of the island of Lesvos, 85 firefighters with 21 fire engines and firefighting planes and helicopters managed to control the flames. On the Peloponnese peninsula, the forest fire has been put off for the time being, but it was not completely extinguished until early morning. There were 159 firefighters on duty, as reported by the newspaper “Kathimerini”.
The situation in Dadia National Park, in the northeast of the country, remained difficult. There, 320 firefighters put out the fire for the sixth day in a row. The military and rangers tried to cut down large swaths of forest to prevent the flames from spreading further. “The fires are spreading,” Dimitris Petrovits, deputy governor of the Evros regional district, said Tuesday. The fire has already destroyed 2,500 hectares of pine forest.
Dadia National Park, just a few kilometers from the Turkish border, is one of the most important protected areas in Europe. It is best known for its colony of black vultures. It is home to almost every species of bird of prey found in the Balkans, as well as over 100 species of butterflies and 65 species of mammals. The bird observatory in the park has now been completely destroyed, said deputy park manager Konstandinidou. The “single objective” becomes to protect the “most important area” where the black vulture nests are located.
According to the national fire protection authority, nearly 60 other wildfires have occurred in Greece in the last 24 hours alone. Several villages have already been evacuated. In many parts of Greece, there was a high to very high risk of wildfires on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a volunteer firefighter died in renewed forest fires in northern Morocco. Another firefighter was injured and is being treated in hospital, local officials said on Monday. About 33 hectares of vegetation were destroyed in the fire in Tanouate province, near the cities of Fez and Meknes.
Firefighters worked Tuesday night to control the fire. Several fires have raged in northern Morocco since Monday. Larache province, where devastating forest fires had already raged in mid-July, was particularly hard hit. At that time, one person died in the fire and 10,500 hectares of vegetation were set on fire.
While wildfires on the Atlantic coast of southern France south of Bordeaux are slowly being brought under control, lingering heat in the Mediterranean is causing concern due to rising water temperatures. The French Observatory for Tornadoes and Severe Storms has already described water temperatures, which have risen to nearly 30 degrees, as exceptional and very worrying.
In the US state of California, nearly 3,000 firefighters continued to fight a devastating wildfire near Yosemite National Park. Even days after the fire started, only 16% were contained, according to the fire department. The flames spread much more slowly than before late Monday night. The “Oak Fire” began on Friday in Mariposa County, near the national park with its famous redwoods. So far, nearly 7,000 hectares and 55 buildings have been destroyed, and thousands of people had to be taken to safety.
Thousands of firefighters continued to work “under high pressure,” California’s fire and forest protection agency Cal Fire said. They would be supported by tractors and about two dozen firefighting helicopters. According to the official, it is the most destructive fire of this year’s fire season. Fire Department spokesman Jon Heggie described “Fogo do Carvalho” as one of the typical fires in the region in recent years. The flames were spreading at such an “unprecedented” rate that they were “extremely dangerous” to local residents and firefighters, Heggie told CNN. There is little time for evacuations. The region suffers from the heat and acute shortage of water, dead trees and withered bushes provide fuel for the flames.