Fire brigade in Thuringia: 2200 curry sausages for heroic emergency services!

Fire brigade in Thuringia: 2200 curry sausages for heroic emergency services!

The hot temperatures and persistent drought have dramatically increased the risk of forest fires in Germany in recent days. Thuringia is particularly affected, where a large fire is raging in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. The extinguishing work here is anything but easy: wind and water supply problems present the emergency services with immense challenges. Over 250 firefighters, THW members, civil protection officers, police officers and forestry employees are on duty to quell the flames. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), temperatures in the region have risen sharply and have exacerbated the conditions for forest fires, making extinguishing work even more difficult.

While a disaster alarm has already been triggered in neighboring Saxony - where over 200 emergency services are fighting a fire at a former military training area - the flames in Thuringia are the largest forest fire event in 32 years. With over 600 hectares of area affected, the situation is tense. A light rainfall temporarily gave the emergency services some breathing room, but the wind caused the flames to flare up again and again. The risk that the fire will spread further is still high, as an analysis by Umweltbundesamt shows, which points to increasing risks from climate change.

Support for the helpers

In the midst of these challenging circumstances, neighbors are showing solidarity: firefighters and civil protection officers from Suhl have brought a field kitchen to the fire area to feed the intensively working emergency services. On Thursday evening, 2,200 curry sausages were freshly prepared and handed out to the firefighters on site. “It is important that our emergency services are well supplied in order to maintain their energies,” reports a member of the disaster control team. Catering services will continue until Sunday, with units from the Hildburghausen and Sonneberg districts providing breakfast and lunch.

But Thuringia is not the only country fighting the flames. In Brandenburg and Saxony there is also fierce fighting over every source of fire. In Brandenburg, a fire also spread to a former military training area near Jüterbog. The firefighters are no longer on duty here and the fire station is being taken over by the Brandenburg Natural Landscapes Foundation. In Saxony, however, the difficulties are far from over - at least 600 hectares are in danger in the Meißen district, where firefighting operations have been going on for three days.

Aggravating weather conditions

Rising temperatures and a heat wave have increased the risk of forest fires in several regions, as the Süddeutsche reports. Thunderstorms and heavy rain have brought some relief, but the recurring hot and dry phases continue to threaten the forests. The data from the Federal Environment Agency shows that significantly more forest areas will be affected in 2023 than in previous years. Although 2023 saw a decrease in forest fires compared to 2022, the area affected was above the long-term average.

Here in Thuringia and in the other affected federal states it is once again apparent how important the protection and preservation of our forests are. The risks of forest fires are likely to continue to increase over the next few decades, and with it the need to provide the best possible support to emergency responders. While the fire brigades fight in the front lines, the whole of society stands behind them and shows that solidarity is needed in times of crisis.