On New Year's Eve: “Stray” rocket sets Wiese on fire
Created: 01/02/2022, 4:11 PM
From: Manuela Schauer
Water and extinguishing foam march!
The fire brigade is fighting the fire in steep terrain.
© Oberau fire brigade
They are the heroes of New Year's Eve: the Oberau fire brigade and colleagues from the mountain rescue team successfully fought a fire shortly after midnight.
Conditions were difficult.
Oberau - Florian Schindlbeck's cell phone rings shortly after midnight.
Not that unusual on New Years.
But contrary to what he expected, he does not receive any New Years greetings.
The fire brigade commander is informed of a fire in Oberau.
Even before the official alert at 0.35 a.m., it was already clear to him: This will be a long and exhausting New Year's Eve.
Schindlbeck and his team first set out in a vehicle to explore the “green spot” above the swimming pool. The drive up there is difficult, beyond that "we didn't know whether there was still snow". That's not the case. A total of five vehicles and 35 comrades finally reached the affected area, even quite close to the source of the fire in the vicinity of the vantage point. The fire brigade has to extinguish around 200 square meters of meadow - under difficult conditions: the ground is slippery, the terrain is sometimes very steep and sloping. That is why the local mountain rescue service rushes over to assist the fire brigade and, above all, to secure the men in the rough terrain. “We have the longer ropes,” explains the emergency manager Josef Lohr. The Murnau colleagues are also approaching with their special trailer complete with ropes.“But it wasn't used,” says Lohr. Because the fire is already under control.
The fire was out within an hour
Schindlbeck's team had successfully fought the flames using water, extinguishing foam and fire shoes.
Within an hour.
They then continue to check the area with a thermal camera to be sure that they have caught all the embers.
Lohr praises the fire brigade.
“She did a great job.
Really good."
The mountain rescue service secures the rescue forces.
© Bergwacht Oberau
According to the police headquarters of Upper Bavaria South, the fire was caused by a "stray" New Year's rocket. Fortunately, says Lohr, the fire didn't spread to the trees. Also, the fact that it had rained from time to time probably prevented a larger extent of the fire and thus the operation. “The meadow was damp,” confirms Schindlbeck. It is surprising that it burned at all.
The emergency services do not start their return journey to the valley until around 3:30 a.m.
Nobody thinks about partying anymore.
The clean-up work lasts until around five in the morning, emphasizes Schindlbeck.
“It'll drag on.” Of course, he would have wished that he and his comrades could have spent the turn of the year without an assignment.
"This time we were just unlucky," he says.
For him, however, one thing counts above all: That nothing has happened to anyone.
MANUELA SCHAUER