Waldbrand in Saxony: Brandenburg's fight against the flames!

Waldbrand in Saxony: Brandenburg's fight against the flames!

Near the Saxon-Brandenburg state border, a forest fire rages on a former military training area in Gohrischheide. The fire broke out on Tuesday, but was initially deleted. The wind blows from the southern direction and catches the embers again. Around 200 emergency services are currently in use to combat the angry fire and prevent spread to Brandenburg. This is reported Zeitung .

The fire has recorded an area of approx. 150 hectares, which is particularly delicate in view of the nature of the area. The use is not only complicated because of the cause of the fire; The police are investigating possible arson. The district fire chief Ingo Nestler announced that the emergency services must strictly adhere to prescribed paths so as not to go into dangerous areas.

emergency services at the limit

The helicopters of the federal police have been in use since Wednesday morning. These can throw up to 1800 liters of water in order to effectively combat the foci. They are supported by around 60 emergency services of the Technical Relief Agency (THW), which are not only responsible for the transport of drinking water and fuels, but also explore the situation with drones.

The area used to be a military training area and still harbors many dangers from ammunition residues. This makes the extinguishing work all the more challenging. The head of operations Martin Neumann reports that the threat to Brandenburg is currently assessed as controllable. So far, the firefighters have been able to prevent the fire on spreading across the national border, so The Tagesspiegel .

forest fires in the context of climate change

forest fires are not only an issue in Saxony and Brandenburg. Due to the increasing dry and heat period as a result of climate change, these fire have become an ever greater danger to our forests. In recent years, the number of forest fires in Germany has increased, which is confirmed by a statista analysis that states that over 1,200 hectares were affected by fires in 2023 alone. In the previous year it was over 3,000 hectares - the highest value in the past 30 years. An alarming trend that endangers not only the ecosystem, but also the health of people, since fine smoke and pollutants get into the air.

The causes are often in arson or negligence, while only a handful of fires are triggered by natural causes such as lightning strikes. In view of the current situation in Gohrischheide, it remains to be seen how the situation will develop and whether the dramatic scenarios, which have been observed in southern European countries and the USA in recent years, could continue to threaten Germany. You can find more information about the current location of the forest fires on Statista .