After the heat, thunderstorms in Bavaria brought some cooling down on Thursday night. Before that, it had gotten really hot in the Free State. After the small cooling on Thursday, the temperatures should again exceed the 30 degree mark at the weekend, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced.
However, Thursday’s rain was not enough for large-scale irrigation of dry fields and forests. Due to the drought, there are currently forest and wildfires in various parts of Bavaria. In the Lower Franconian district of Aschaffenburg alone, there were three forest and meadow fires within a few hours. Overall, on Tuesday afternoon and evening there was a fire in an area of around 750 square meters, according to the fire brigade. A firefighter was injured while fighting the fire.
In Upper Franconia, the fire brigade had to extinguish stubble fields that had caught fire on Tuesday. The fire in Kirchenlamitz in the Wunsiedel district was probably caused by flying sparks from a straw press, the police said. The fire spread to around 3000 square meters and the baling press was destroyed. There was also a forest fire near Lichtenfels late Tuesday evening, but it was quickly extinguished. Here the police suspect arson, the Kripo in Coburg has taken over the investigation. In the Upper Palatinate, an area of around four hectares of fields and meadows on the edge of the local connecting road from Poppenricht in the Amberg-Sulzbach district to Schäflohe burned on Tuesday.
On Wednesday there were further fires in fields, for example in Wirsberg in Upper Franconia, where a fire broke out in a stubble field. The damage was estimated at more than 160,000 euros. A harvested grain field burned near Regensburg. The fire brigade extinguished the fire with several fire engines early Wednesday evening, as announced on Thursday. A farmer also supported the emergency services, who were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a field that had not yet been harvested and a high-voltage system.
A grain field burned down near Augsburg on Thursday night. The glow of the fire on the partially harvested field, which was about the size of around ten football pitches, could be seen for kilometers, said the Augsburg fire brigade. Around 70 firefighters were deployed with 14 vehicles.