Heroic deeds in Altenburger Land: Fire brigade defeats Waldinferno!

Heroic deeds in Altenburger Land: Fire brigade defeats Waldinferno!

On July 3, 2025, the district of Altenburger Land received an alarm from the neighboring district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt. Near Gösselsdorf, a devastating forest fire raged, which had spread over an area of around 300 hectares. The disaster was immediately proclaimed, which means that support quickly had to be requested. The Gera rescue control center and the Thuringian State Administrative Office then organized the commitment.

With united forces, a total of 75 committed comrades from the fire brigades from the Altenburger Land moved out to master the situation. On July 7, the emergency services finally managed to control the fire and thus avoid greater damage. For this selfless campaign, a big thank you came from District Administrator Marko Wolfram, which also from the mayors Dr. Steffen Kania from Saalfeld, Sven Mechtold from Probstzella and Marcel Kuhnen from Gräfenthal. [Abg-net reports that ...]

The technology behind the extinguishing work

The situation around the forest fire in Thuringia also required the expertise of external teams. A specialized team of experts from Lower Saxony, which specializes in combating embers, was called for support. As Florian Schlüter explains from the forest fire team, the challenge was to bring the water deep into the ground in order to effectively suffocate the embers. To achieve this, the helpers brought numerous tools with them, because superficial wetting of the earth usually shows little effect. [NDR.de reports that ...]

In the course of the events, the number of firefighters who were involved in the operation was halved to around 250. The situation has now relaxed and fire helicopters no longer had to be used on Sunday. A weather forecast that announced rain for the following days also gave hope for a rapid improvement in the fire area.

Common commitment and solidarity

In the thank -you with District Administrator Wolfram, great recognition is expressed in the enormous solidarity and the cohesion of all participating forces. "The emergency services are true heroes," the letter is emphasized. The cohesion and the mutual respect that were felt during fire fighting were emphasized by the political representatives as particularly valuable. Citizens in the region can be proud of their commitment and the help of neighboring counties.

This assignment shows once again how important cooperation across community and national borders is when the well-being of the community is at stake. In such crisis situations, it is noticeable that people are there for each other - and that is exactly what makes life together so valuable.