Forest fire in southern Brandenburg extinguished: fire station remains

Created: 08/02/2022Updated: 08/02/2022 16:34

After a forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district, ash lies on the ground in a forest area.

© Sebastian Willnow/dpa/archive image

A week of hard work for the emergency services in the major fire in the Elbe-Elster district - at first they can breathe easy.

The forest fire is extinguished.

But the danger remains.

The next heat is coming.

Falkenberg - What remains are large charred areas, embers and exhausted firefighters: a good week after the forest fire broke out in southern Brandenburg, the fire was extinguished.

This was announced by the deputy fire chief of the Liebenwerda association, Martin Neumann, on Tuesday.

"For me, that was the best radio message to the control center in ages, to give the final fire-off message," Neumann told the German Press Agency.

The large extinguishing measures in the Kölsa-Rehfeld area in the Elbe-Elster district on the border with Saxony have ended.

But the next heat wave is already in sight.

The challenge now is to hand over the areas affected by the fire to the more than 60 owners, as Neumann explained.

That's why the community association is still taking over the fire watch.

According to him, a central event for the forest owners is planned for this Wednesday, at which the forest areas will be handed over to them.

The owners of the areas then take over the fire watch.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, around two-thirds of Brandenburg's forests are in private hands, that's around 670,000 hectares.

The fire broke out Monday a week ago and quickly spread to around 800 hectares - an area about four times the size of Monaco.

Bundeswehr, police, THW and firefighters from numerous districts in Brandenburg had fought against the flames.

They were supported by forces from four federal states.

The break for the emergency services could be deceptive - for the coming days, the German Weather Service (DWD) expects temperatures well above 30 degrees and a high heat load.

"We're worried about what's to come," said the deputy chief of the Liebenwerda fire department.

Highs of between 32 and 34 degrees have been announced for this Wednesday.

On Thursday it should be up to 37 degrees hot.

"We are currently busy repairing the technology so that it is ready for use again," reported Neumann.

According to the deputy forest fire protection officer Philipp Haase, the highest forest fire danger level five will apply again this Wednesday for some districts.

The highest level is expected to apply in all districts on Thursday.

The danger levels are calculated on the basis of precipitation, humidity, wind speed and temperature, among other things.

According to the information, the forest fire season has 214 days.

The highest danger level (5) applies on average for 10 to 20 days.

dpa