Happy circumstances prevented worse things from happening. Because in the forest fire, an area the size of four soccer fields was on fire. The Kripo Fürstenfeldbruck has taken over the investigation.
Herrsching - "We were extremely lucky," says Alfred Ploetz. His family owns Gut Ried bei Herrsching and the surrounding forest areas. On Monday afternoon, about 60 meters east of the state road, it burned on an area of almost two hectares. If this area had not been surrounded by three forest paths and if it had been spruces, the extent would probably have been much larger. This also says operations manager Daniel Pleyer, commander of the Herrsching fire brigade. "The wind direction would have been right," he says. "These were ideal conditions for a fire" - just a few hundred meters from Gut Ried.
Pleyer is lucky that two cyclists saw the flames and immediately alerted the fire department. Because if the flames had jumped over the forest path to a low spruce stock there, it could have spread further towards Gut Ried and Rausch in no time at all.
110 volunteers on duty
The alarm keyword that is triggered in such cases is called "B-forest large". The contingent was accordingly. The day after, Pleyer added it up: 110 volunteers were on the job, 35 from the Herrsching fire brigade alone - "Thanks to Corona," says Pleyer, referring to the many rescuers who were in the home office and therefore quickly on the spot. When else would so many volunteer firefighters have the opportunity to do so on a weekday at 4 p.m.?
Support came from the entire district - from the fire brigades Inning, Buch, Breitbrunn, Söcking, Gilching, Tutzing, Pöcking, Aschering, Oberpfaffenhofen, from the district fire inspection, from the technical relief organization and from disaster relief. A total of 30 vehicles were on site, with foam water cannons, large tank volumes and hose cars.
Fire water from the Ammersee
Although there is a hydrant in the forest, water was also pumped from Ammersee for safety, which was tapped at Gut Ried by a pipe connection that reached under the state road to the lake. "And people keep asking themselves the question: Does it need that, equipment, new emergency vehicles?" Says Pleyer and emphasizes: "Yes, it needs it." There was always a day X. This Monday was such a day.
Pleyer speaks of a phenomenon that you could not have seen the smoke from Herrsching. “The thermal wind pushing up from the lake kept the flames on the ground.” It also affected the forest cover. "It would have been different with spruces." They only grow again on the other side of the forest path that first stopped the fire. Thanks to the paths, the vehicles could also drive directly to the source of the fire.
Use lasts a total of four hours
So that the emergency services did not collapse, beverages were purchased immediately. “We had an outside temperature of 25 degrees and there was the fire,” explains Pleyer. Including subsequent erasure work, the operation lasted four hours. The state road between Herrsching and Breitbrunn was closed for about three hours.
The damage can be estimated at the earliest in a year or two, says Alfred Ploetz. He appreciates and hopes that he will keep himself within limits as it only burned on the floor. However, beech trees in particular reacted to infrared light. "You have to see how far the tree is damaged on the bark, whether it bursts open," explains Ploetz.
He can only speculate about the cause - and at the moment most likely holds two theories: a carelessly thrown away cigarette or a piece of broken glass that might have looked like a burning glass. Both can have devastating consequences: When it comes to forest fires, the district currently ranks three out of five. The fire investigators at the Kripo Fürstenfeldbruck have taken over the investigation.