Waldbrand Gohrischheide: Fire brigade fights against embers!

Waldbrand Gohrischheide: Fire brigade fights against embers!

in the Gohrischheide, an idyllic forest area in Saxony, has been holding the emergency services in suspense since the beginning of July. The situation has stabilized, but the danger is by no means banned. There are currently still embers that have to be constantly being combated. Around 400 firefighters, supported by the technical relief organization (THW) and the police, are on duty to keep the flames in chess. This is reported by the Stern .

The district office estimates that around 2,400 hectares of the forest are affected - this corresponds to more than three quarters of the total area of ​​the Gohrischheide. The inhabitants of the nearby Heidehäuser village were able to return to their houses after an evacuation on Tuesday, since the authorities lifted the measures.

coordination of the emergency services

The railway line between Riesa/Bogendreieck Zeithain and Falkenberg is not directly affected by the fire, but was blocked by the authorities for precaution. Train employees must not enter the area, while the train connections are mainly reserved for freight transport. The freight traffic must sometimes use spacious diversions; Occasionally, long-distance trains between Berlin and Dresden are also diverted via this route, such as mdr

The THW has set up extensive water promotion. A gravel pit near Boragk is continuously transported with large pumps water over a 2.5 km long hose route. Several water bubbles for fire and farmers have accumulated for withdrawal. The need for water is large and the technical resources have been increased to ensure that the emergency services are optimally equipped.

learning processes and new tactics

District Administrator Ralf Hänsel (CDU) emphasizes that the teachings from the devastating forest fire led to improvements in fire fighting in 2022. Access to the forest area was expanded and beats were beaten to enable faster access to the fire brigade. Nevertheless, the German Fire Brigade Association criticizes that the equipment of the emergency services is not optimal for today's risk of forest fire. Germany is lagging behind other countries like Poland when removing old ammunition residues and there was never a complete elimination in the Gohrischheide because the costs are too high.

A central point in fire fighting is the development of new extinguishing tactics. So far, it has been deleted from the street and tried to sink the undergrowth. However, this method has its pitfalls: the fire can work towards the irrigated areas and, if they dry out, fully remove. A rethink is required here to minimize the dangers for the region in the long term.

The problem of forest fires has increased in recent years, which also underlines the importance of the forest as a protection and recreation room. In Germany, forest fire data has been merged since the 1970s to be prepared against this threat. The aim is to reduce the area and number of forest fires in the future. For this purpose, the collection and evaluation of data is essential, as ble reports.

In these challenging times, the hope that the efforts of the emergency services will soon be rewarded and the Gohrischheide can overcome the fire so that the beautiful landscape can soon bloom again in full splendor.