A forest fire broke out in the Harz not far from the Brocken on Sunday. According to the city of Wernigerode, 100 people were brought to safety. Three aircraft brought the fire under control in the evening. On Monday morning, the fire brigade continued to put out the fire.
After the eruption of a forest fire on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains, the extinguishing work continues on Monday morning. As the city of Wernigerode announced in the morning, the fire has not yet been extinguished, but is under control. Emergency services want to continue fighting the fire on Monday from the air and from the ground.
District fire chief Kai-Uwe Lohse told MDR SACHSEN-ANHALT that the use of two airplanes and a police helicopter is also planned on Monday to extinguish the fire from the air. He also expects the emergency services to be able to fight the fire from the ground during the day. According to Lohse, the extinguishing operation is difficult because the fire site can only be reached via the railway line, on foot or from the air.
According to the information, tank wagons are to be brought to the site from Schierke station. A heavy clearing device is also provided by the national park. 80 people are currently deployed
Fire watch at night
As the MDR SACHSEN-ANHALT fire brigade control center announced on Monday morning, emergency services had kept an eye on what was happening on the highest Harz mountain all night. Planes and a helicopter were used to extinguish the fire from the air until it got dark. According to the city of Wernigerode, this was the reason for the success.
the fire broke out on Sunday afternoon on the Königsberg, a side hilltop of the Brocken. According to district fire chief Lohse, about two hectares of forest near Schierke were on fire. The fire was initially able to spread quickly due to the wind. In the evening, the city of Wernigerode announced that the fire department said the fire was under control.
Apparently no injuries
According to the information In addition to the Harz fire-fighting aircraft, another one from Goslar and a helicopter from the Saxony-Anhalt state police are in use. The Schnei pond on the Wurmberg and the Zillierbachtalsperre near Wernigerode are available as water intake points for the aircraft. In order to bring the fire under control, around 35,000 liters of extinguishing water had already been dropped from the air by Sunday evening. Around 120 emergency services from the fire brigade, THW, police and national park were on duty at times.
Image copyright: Telenews Network
Nothing is currently known about injuries. According to the city of Wernigerode, around 100 people were taken to safety because they were near the fire. “People were evacuated by bus so that they could get down the mountain safely. Rail traffic has stopped because the rails can also pose a risk,” said the city spokeswoman.
The Harz fire-fighting plane is the machine that the district has stationed in Ballenstedt since spring. She was in action in Jüterbog in Brandenburg until Saturday – also because of a forest fire. The plane had already been ordered back on Saturday evening.
The following hiking trails in the operational area have been closed in coordination with the national park administration:
– Eckersprung towards Goethe station
– upper Königsberger way
– Yellow Brink to Brockenstraße
– Glashüttenweg to Brockenstrasse
– Railway parallel path Schierker Bahnhof to Brockenstrasse
Danger of forest fires throughout Saxony-Anhalt
Throughout Saxony-Anhalt the risk of forest fires had recently increased further. This applies in the eastern half of the country Danger level 5, according to the data from the Landeszentrum Wald. Danger level 5 is the highest of the five forest fire warning levels. The district of Wittenberg (Vorfläming, Elsterland and Dübener Heide) is specifically affected. In the Altmark district of Salzwedel, in Stendal, in the district of Börde north of the autobahn, in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Dessau-Roßlau, in Jerichower Land, in Halle, in the Saale district and in the Burgenland district, the Danger level 4.
More about forest fires
MDR (Dagmar Borchert, Norma Düsekow, Johanna Therefore, Kalina Bunk, Cornelia Winkler) | This text was first published on June 4, 2023.
This topic in the program:MDR SACHSEN-ANHALT – The radio like us | 05 June 2023 | 5:00 a.m