major fire
Fire brigade operation on Brocken ended, people safe
Fire extinguished, people safe: It is still unclear why there was a major fire on the Brocken. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Firefighters put out a fire in the Harz Mountains for hours. The extinguishing work is problematic, the fire is only under control after hours. Numerous people had to hold out at the summit.
The major fire on the Brocken in the Harz National Park has largely been extinguished: the fire brigade ended its hour-long mission late Tuesday evening.
Everything has been deleted as well as possible, there are still embers, said a spokesman for the fire department of the dpa. The visitors who had to wait on the Brocken because of the fire were brought down from the mountain in minibuses in the course of the evening. The fire site will be reassessed on Wednesday morning and, if necessary, extinguished, the spokesman said.
According to the fire brigade, there was a fire in the national park over an area of about one hectare. The cause was still unclear. The operation of the Harz narrow-gauge railway was discontinued on Tuesday afternoon. The emergency services, material and firefighting water were brought as close as possible to the site by train. The two water wagons of the Harz narrow-gauge railway were also in use.
Numerous visitors were on the Brocken summit when the fire broke out. They had to hold out on the mountain and at Schierke station, as Heide Baumgärtner, spokeswoman for the Brockenbahn, said. The smoke pollution was initially too great to bring people down safely. They were therefore safely accommodated on the trains and provided with food and drinks. The 1141 meter high Brocken is the highest mountain in northern Germany.