Huge forest fires in Thuringia and Saxony: Hundreds of emergency services active!

Huge forest fires in Thuringia and Saxony: Hundreds of emergency services active!

Hundreds of emergency services are currently fighting massive forest fires in Thuringia and Saxony. A large fire was discovered on Wednesday in particular on the Saalfelder Höhe in Thuringia, which now covers an area of ​​at least 250 hectares. The cause of the fire remains unknown. According to Peter Lahann, a spokesman for the district office, the spread of the flames was successfully stopped last night, but the situation remains tense. Around 500 helpers are currently active on site to stabilize the situation and prevent the fire from spreading further. A third firefighting helicopter is expected today to support the extensive firefighting efforts.

In the Gohrischheide, a region between Saxony and Brandenburg, 600 forces are deployed, including the fire department, the technical relief agency and the Bundeswehr. There is also a critical situation in Saxony, especially after the evacuation of Jacobsthal train station, where around 45 people are affected. The fire department has the situation under control, but the weather conditions, especially the wind direction, play a crucial role in the extinguishing work. An all-clear is not yet possible.

Increased danger situation and operational measures

The forest fires in Thuringia are considered the largest in the last 30 years. In Saxony, the affected area is difficult to estimate; Estimates range from 200 to 1,000 hectares. The sources of the fire in the Gohrischheide are moving towards each other, which makes extinguishing work even more difficult due to the ammunition load in the forests. A disaster has already been declared, particularly for the affected communities of Zeithain, Wülknitz and Gröditz. Evacuations were also carried out here, as in the Neudorf district in Zeithain, where residents were able to return in the meantime. However, the Heidehäuser district remains cleared.

In the Brandenburg region, local rain has defused the danger, but the situation remains tense, especially on the border with Saxony. Against this background, emergency harvests for the harvest of dry grain are also underway in Brandenburg in order to prevent fires from spreading to agricultural areas. A medium to high risk of forest fires is recorded in many parts of Germany, with the highest warning levels in the south and east of the country.

Fighting the fires is expected to last until the beginning of next week, even though cooler nights have already taken some of the momentum out of the fire. However, it remains to be seen how the temperatures and weather conditions will develop.