Historical forest fire in Thuringia: Disaster alarm triggered!

Historical forest fire in Thuringia: Disaster alarm triggered!

The Thuringia region is currently facing the greatest challenge in the form of an unprecedented forest fire that broke out on Tuesday, July 2, on the Saalfeld Höhe. Already on Wednesday, July 3, the disaster was proclaimed when the flames spread in two directions. So far, the extinguishing work, in which over 520 emergency services from all over the region are involved, have had no success in the fight against fire. According to Stern has now grown to around 250 hectares Situation historical - since 1993 there has been no forest fire in Thuringia of such a size.

The great winds, which additionally begin fire, are among the major challenges in fire fighting. While the firefighters tirelessly try to contain the flames, three fire trucks from Bavaria were also requested for reinforcements. Even water is now driven out of an outdoor pool in light, since the local extinguishing water resources are already exhausted. The emergency services also receive support from police helicopters who coordinate the use of the air.

health effects and precautionary measures

The smoke development of the fire has already affected several counties in both Thuringia and Bavaria. Warnings were spent on closing windows and doors and switching off air conditioning systems. The district of Kronach in particular is exposed to health risks due to the increased flue gases. However, the health department has ruled out a hazard in the Hof district. Overall, the affected counties in Thuringia are Sonneberg and the Saale-Orla district as well as in Bavaria Kronach, Kulmbach and Hof.

The fire brigade held fire station on Thursday night to prevent the flames from spreading to other areas. There were no more flames visible on Thursday morning, but the fire is still not under control. A large rain that fell at night has unfortunately not brought a relaxation of the critical situation. The Interior Minister Georg Maier warned of the possibility more often and larger fires due to climate change.

Future view and prevention measures

The latest events illustrate the need for a comprehensive approach. The CDU faction suggests checking the stationing of Löschhelikopters at Erfurt-Weimar Airport in order to make fire fighting more effectively. Furthermore, the introduction of a common civil protection helicopter for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt is required.

In the future, an increase in forest fires can be expected. An analysis of Environmental Federal Agency shows that the risk will increase in the coming decades due to higher temperatures and lower precipitation. The experiences from the current fire in Thuringia in combination with the knowledge from the last forest fire season lead to the insight that proactive measures for fire prevention are absolutely necessary. This includes the conversion of coniferous monocultures in mixed forests in order to better protect the forest ecosystems from future fires. It is still unclear what the fire has triggered because the investigation by the criminal police can only be tackled after the extinguishing work has been completed.