Status: 05.09.2022 07:27
The major fire in the Harz Mountains initially did not spread. Two fire-fighting aircraft from Italy and six fire-fighting helicopters are now ready to fight the fire on the Brocken.
The fire behavior was stable overnight, as a spokesman for the Harz district (Saxony-Anhalt) announced in the morning. Planes and helicopters are scheduled to take off around 9 a.m. The fire brigade’s fire-fighting aircraft can absorb and drop more than 6,000 liters of water. They were requested via the central coordination office in Brussels as part of the European aid project “RescEU-IT” and arrived on Sunday evening. Meteorologist Alexander König warned that if the fire is not quickly brought under control with the additional support, the increasing wind could significantly aggravate the situation today and the day after tomorrow. Rain is not in sight, says König.
Steep slopes and dry spruces make it difficult to use
The authorities hope a lot from the use of the air. The mountain slope below the summit is difficult to access, and there are mostly dead spruce trees that burn easily. In addition to the emergency services in the air, there are around 300 firefighters on site from Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, as the operations manager of the Braunlage fire brigade said. According to the Harz district, the burning area had grown to around 150 hectares on Sunday. District Administrator Thomas Balcerowski (CDU) had declared the disaster. Police officers secured the area around the Brocken, which is closed to visitors. The town of Schierke, which belongs to Wernigerode, is still not at risk, it said.
Brocken cleared – Berg is no longer approached
The fire was discovered around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday near the Goethebahnhof vantage point. The Goetheweg to the Brocken is one of the most frequented hiking trails in the Harz National Park. Because of the heavy smoke, the authorities cleared the highest Harz mountain, which is in Saxony-Anhalt and borders directly on Lower Saxony. Tourists were brought down to the valley with the Brockenbahn, among other things. The Harz narrow-gauge railways are currently not running on the 1,141-meter-high mountain. As the railway company announced on its website, there is limited train service between Wernigerode and Drei Annen Hohne.
Heavy forest fire already in mid-August
A forest fire at the foot of the Brocken near Schierke had already raged for several days in mid-August. According to the national park administration, 3.6 hectares of spruce forest were destroyed.
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