The police and fire brigade rule out arson or negligence after the large-scale operation on Sunday at the Easter fire head near Eschenlohe.
They assume that a natural cause started the forest fire.
A lightning strike in the days before would be conceivable.
Eschenlohe
– Three long-dead trees are completely charred, others are charred.
They are still standing, but their roots are brown.
The forest fire on Sunday at the Osterfeuerkopf above Eschenlohe caused damage, but the extent could have been far greater.
The floor of the affected area, an area that Franz Steffl estimates at around 20 by 20 meters, was not massively black, says Eschenlohe's fire brigade commander, describing the impression he gained during a review with his deputy Johann Wolf on Monday morning.
The smoke between the rocks and treetops about 200 meters below the Osterfeuerkopf summit was apparently noticed in good time around 4 p.m.
The mountain rescue service and the police then did a great job, which was completed around 10:30 p.m.
Yesterday there was still a “small nest of embers in the root area”, says Steffl, which could be solved in no time at all.
The fire brigade and police were on the move with thermal imaging cameras from the ground and from the air to be on the safe side - and to make sure that hikers who had fallen, for example after an accident, were not in the area after all.
There was no evidence of humans.
that hikers who have fallen are not still in the area after an accident.
There was no evidence of humans.
that hikers who have fallen are not still in the area after an accident.
There was no evidence of humans.
+
A federal police helicopter is fitted with an external load container.
© Bartl
Easter firehead: Arson ruled out according to the current status
This also applies to the cause.
According to the current status, Steffl rules out the possibility that an unknown person could have deliberately or negligently started the fire, which, as he has now established, "far from any path" ignited in an inaccessible place.
The assumption is that a lightning strike on Corpus Christi triggered a smoldering and the fire, favored by the drought, was possibly only really ignited days later by the wind.
The lightning theory coincides "with our assessment," says Clemens Schmitz, deputy chief of the Murnau police, who points to the high risk of forest fires, of which the authorities had repeatedly warned.
These are "often treacherous," says Schmitz.
"You can see that in other federal states." In an emergency, you have to "run the big program right from the start",
also because it is difficult to assess how such a fire will develop.
Schmitz sums it up: "We caught it in time."
G7 Summit: Helicopters in close proximity
In Eschenlohe the factors were favourable.
In Pömetsried, because of the G7 summit, helicopters were in the immediate vicinity.
After a 25-man fire brigade foot troop with twelve extinguishing water backpacks, each holding 18 liters, climbed to the fire site in the sweltering heat and intervened, three helicopters from the federal and Bavarian police followed.
On a mowed field between Loisachstrasse and Murnauer Strasse, which served as a landing field, the forces pumped up to 2,000 liters of river water into external load containers, which, according to Steffl, were dropped hanging on the helicopter in a targeted manner over the fire site - with resounding success.
After the third round, the forest fire was extinguished.
"The helicopter is priceless in such cases," says Schmitz.
Firefighters move directly from Trachtler-Fest
Around 4 p.m., some firefighters left the GTEV D'Loisachtaler festival.
The costumers then provided food for the many emergency services that had to be supplied on this hot day.
Thunderstorms announced yesterday gave Steffl hope for an end to the dangerous dry phase.
Schmitz once again points out important rules of conduct - including: do not smoke in the forest and in dry nature, do not throw away glass bottles.
Because forest fires are “a real danger for everyone”.
