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Alarm in the Thuringian Forest: Big exercise after a children's camp fire!
On June 14, 2025, the Gotha disaster management team simulated an evacuation in the Thuringian Forest near Luisenthal due to the risk of forest fires.
Alarm in the Thuringian Forest: Big exercise after a children's camp fire!
Last Friday evening, a dramatic exercise took place in the Thuringian Forest near Luisenthal, which impressively demonstrated how well the emergency services can react to serious events in the event of a disaster. The exercise called for emergency services to be alerted to a children's tent camp, where around 25 injured children and carers were surprised by the fire. The scenarios were realistic, so numerous rescue workers from the emergency services and mountain rescue services were mobilized to quickly transport the extras to nearby hospitals. Firefighters from the district's volunteer fire brigades laid around four kilometers of hoses from the Schmalwasser dam to the site. The disaster team in the Gotha district office coordinated the evacuation of Luisenthal, while a police helicopter was also integrated into the exercise. These simulated operations show how seriously the authorities take prevention and crisis management. MDR reports that such exercises are essential in order to be able to react quickly and efficiently in an emergency.
However, the recent weather conditions in Thuringia have brought additional challenges that are also relevant for the emergency services. Early summer is currently showing its sunniest side with rising temperatures, which significantly increases the risk of forest fires. Experts warn of a period of drought following the wet start to spring. A spokesman for ThüringenForst, Horst Sproßmann, emphasizes that the risk of forest fires will continue to increase over the weekend. Stable temperatures above 20 degrees and little rain are expected in the coming days. Thuringia24 reports that is particularly a problem for hikers and day trippers, especially with cigarettes and barbecuing in the forest. Therefore, there is a smoking ban in forests in Thuringia all year round.
Forest fire danger levels in focus
Fortunately, there have been only a few forest fires in Thuringia so far this season, with mainly small areas in eastern Thuringia being affected. However, two rescue workers were slightly injured while extinguishing a forest fire in Kyffhäuser. According to a current danger level map from ThüringenForst, almost all of Thuringia was classified as orange (danger level three out of five) on June 2nd. At danger level four, barbecue areas and public fireplaces can be closed. These regulations are all the more important because the danger levels are classified as follows:
| level | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Very low risk. No restrictions for forest visitors. |
| 2 | Low danger. No restrictions for forest visitors. |
| 3 | Medium danger. Informational for forest users. |
| 4 | High danger. Publicly accessible barbecue areas may be closed. |
| 5 | Very high risk. May lead to the closure of extremely vulnerable forest areas. |
Given these circumstances, it is essential that all forest visitors are aware of how they should behave in the forest to avoid fires. Any mischief involving cigarettes or open flames could quickly become a threat to nature and the public. The ThuringiaForst page provides information about the current danger levels and necessary behavior that every forest visitor should observe.