Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Forest fires successfully fought and rain in sight
A warning sign at the forest fire area near Lübtheen, which is contaminated with ammunition, is damaged. The forest fire is under control. photo
© Steven Hutchings/TNN/dpa
All clear in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania three days after the outbreak of two large forest fires. The disaster alert has been lifted. And rain is announced – but not enough.
Hundreds of firefighters successfully fought two large forest fires on areas in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania where there was a munitions load. The disaster alarm for the Lübtheen region, where there was a fire on around 100 hectares of a former military training area, was lifted on Thursday, as a spokesman for District Administrator Stefan Sternberg (SPD) said. After weeks of drought, rain is now in sight again.
The precipitation could at least be a small drop in the ocean in places, especially in the eastern parts of the country plagued by forest fires, according to the German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach. According to the DWD, there could still be showers and thunderstorms in the Lübtheen region on Thursday. A DWD meteorologist said that light precipitation was expected there for Friday morning and in the morning. In order to alleviate the drought permanently, however, a so-called land rain would be needed. “It’s not in sight.”
According to the head of the fire department for Lübtheen, the fire area continued to be watered at the edges, and this will continue throughout the day. There are hardly any flames left and one hopes to be able to “put the fire out” soon. On Monday, two forest fires broke out almost simultaneously in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. In Jüterbog, Brandenburg, the fire in the forest area south of Berlin went out on Wednesday two weeks after the fire broke out.
Dry Northeast
In the course of global warming, the risk of forest fires is increasing in many regions, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has established. A warmer climate can contribute to more water falling from the sky, also more often in the form of heavy rain. However, the periods without precipitation are becoming longer in some cases. And especially in areas that are already dry, such as in north-eastern Germany, the danger of periods of drought is increasing. Forest fires can spread faster in extremely dry vegetation.
Dry, sandy areas such as Brandenburg and parts of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are particularly at risk from forest fires. There had already been a major fire on the former Lübtheen military training area in 2019, which covered a much larger area of almost 1000 hectares. The fire then lasted almost a week. The fact that we have now managed to keep the fire significantly smaller and fight it in half the time is thanks to the many measures that have been taken, said Sternberg.
This includes the purchase of several all-terrain fire engines for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and other modern technology for several million euros. In addition, 15 wells for extinguishing water were drilled at the former Lübtheen military training area and fire protection corridors were cut. Existing aisles were widened to up to 60 meters. In order to increase their protective power, they are sprinkled with rain in the event of a fire – this has been practiced in the past few days near Lübtheen and during the second major forest fire in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the same time around 30 kilometers away near Hagenow on 47 hectares. “The concept of the aisles and the irrigation had a massive effect,” sums up District Administrator Sternberg.