Forest fire on 450 hectares! Winds keep fueling fires

From BZ editors

There has not been a similarly large forest fire in the area so far, said the spokeswoman for the Zeithain fire brigade, Dorit Riedel. “We’ve never had anything like this here in recent years.”

The fire brigade is trying to get the situation under control with a fire-fighting helicopter, thermal imaging cameras and a large number of emergency services, said the Elbe-Elster district fire chief, Steffen Ludewig. The fire was classified as a major damage situation. The fire has spread to 350 hectares. The wind is causing problems for the emergency services.

There are currently 160 firefighters on the Saxon side fighting the forest fire on the state border with Brandenburg. The number will certainly go up “dynamically”, said a spokesman for the rescue control center in Dresden. He could not say how many emergency services in Brandenburg tried to get the fire under control.

However, the emergency services would have withdrawn from the heath in the afternoon. It had become too dangerous there, said Riedel. The paths there are so narrow that only one vehicle can fit through. If the fire then comes from the front, the retreat could become too dangerous. It is currently a priority to protect the town of Nieska from the flames.

► Because of the forest fire, the villages of Kosilenzien and Kröbeln in the Elbe-Elster district have to be evacuated. This was announced by the forest fire protection officer of the state of Brandenburg, Raimund Engel, on Friday (June 24). Both villages belong to the town of Bad Liebenwerda.

The fire broke out on Thursday (June 23). In the meantime, the fire was under control, but then the wind fanned the flames again, said a spokesman for the rescue control center in Dresden.

► The area was previously used for military purposes. There are still a number of duds in the ground. The Gohrischheide in the district of Meißen is a nature reserve that was set up on the former Zeithain military training area. “It’s an old military training ground. Emergency services who were on site reported that there were always small explosions,” said Riedel.

Wind fuels flames

Ever-changing winds continued to fuel the fires. “We are trying to organize and stabilize the situation,” said district fire chief Ludewig. In addition, fire brigades from the Spree-Neisse district were requested. Emergency services from Cottbus were also on their way to the scene of the fire with three tank fire engines, a command vehicle and a crew transporter.

On Friday afternoon, the fire spread across the state border to Brandenburg. Fanned by strong winds from the south, the flames ran towards the village of Neuburxdorf (Elbe-Elster), said a spokesman for the Lausitz rescue control center. “There’s a cornfield on fire now,” he reported.

In the district of Elbe-Elster Brandenburg there was level 4 of the forest fire danger on Friday, especially in northern Brandenburg some districts were at the highest level 5. The second highest danger level also applied in the district of Meissen.

Forest fires in Treuenbrietzen and Beelitz extinguished

Just last weekend (June 18/19), the Brandenburg fire brigade had to deal with two major fires in Treuenbrietzen and Beelitz (Potsdam-Mittelmark district). There, too, loud cracking could be heard again and again because there was still a lot of ammunition in the ground. Both fires have now been extinguished and have been handed over to the private forest owners.

“You must now provide fire guards there and inform the fire brigade in the event of a fire,” said the district spokesman, Kai-Uwe Schwinzert, on Friday on request.

The nests of embers hidden in the forest floor near Beelitz had flared up again in the meantime, but could be extinguished and brought under control. “What we don’t need now is wind,” said Schwinzert. It could fan dangerous flames.