The flames are still blazing on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains, 150 hectares of forest are burning.
Italy and Austria are helping to extinguish the fire from the air.
Wernigerode - The chunk is still burning: Even on the third day, the major fire in the Harz Mountains is not under control.
This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Harz district on Monday morning (September 5th, 2022) in Wernigerode.
Two European countries are now rushing to help: two fire-fighting aircraft from the Italian fire brigade and fire-fighting helicopters from Austria have been helping with the fire-fighting work since Sunday.
The five helicopters use water from the Concordiasee in Saxony-Anhalt, about 40 kilometers away, from the Wurmberg reservoir in Lower Saxony and the Eckerstausee on the state border.
The Canadair CL 415 aircraft of the Italian fire department "Vigili del Fuoco", on the other hand, start from Braunschweig Airport, as reported by hna.de.
Fire on the Brocken: 150 hectares of forest are on fire – Italy is helping with firefighting aircraft
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Large areas of forest are currently burning on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains.
Firefighting aircraft from the Italian fire brigade are also fighting the forest fire from the air.
© Julian Stratenschulte
The aid from Italy and Austria is provided as part of the EU's "Emergency Response Coordination Center" (ERCC) disaster control procedure.
This guarantees close, uncomplicated and speedy cooperation between the EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, Serbia, countries of the former Yugoslav Republic and Turkey in the event of natural and technological disasters, acts of terrorism and sea pollution.
Partiti ieri dall'#Italia, e operativi da oggi, due Canadair della flotta aerea dei #vigilidelfuoco in direzione Germania per fronteggiare l'emergenza incendi boschivi.
La missione è attuata nell'ambito del meccanismo europeo di protezione civile @DPCgov @eu_echo @Viminale pic.twitter.com/lUdRB7qBHG
— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) September 5, 2022
As part of the ERCC, Germany is also regularly involved in extinguishing operations in other European countries - and more recently in forest fires in northern Italy, France, Greece and Spain.
It was not until mid-May 2022 that German fire brigade teams were deployed in south-west France.
There, the flames near Bordeaux destroyed around 6,800 hectares of forest, and 10,000 people had to be brought to safety.
Forest fire in the Harz Mountains: The district of Harz declares a disaster – extinguishing work continues for days
Meanwhile, the fire in the Harz Mountains is said to have spread even further in some places, and the district has now declared a disaster.
The authorities continue to assume a burning area of around 150 hectares – 1.5 square kilometers – as announced by the district.
That's pretty much the equivalent of 210 soccer fields.
Since early Monday morning, the fire-fighting planes and helicopters are supposed to rise again and take part in the fire-fighting work.
According to the information, the authorities assume that the extinguishing work will continue for several days.
Mobile filling stations for aircraft: Federal police and armed forces support fire-fighting operations
A second technical command center from Goslar has been set up with the aim of coordinating the water drops as best as possible.
Meanwhile, the federal police and armed forces are also supporting the fire-fighting operation with mobile filling stations for refueling aircraft.
The Braunschweig fire brigade and Braunschweig airport are refueling the fire-fighting aircraft.
The fire was discovered and reported on Saturday around 2:30 p.m. on the so-called Goetheweg near the Brockenbahn viewpoint at Goethebahnhof.
The cause of the fire is still unclear.
The Goetheweg to the Brocken is one of the most popular and most used hiking trails in the Harz National Park.
(Raphael Digiacomo)
Again and again there are fires in the Harz Mountains, some of which are devastating.
It was not until mid-June 2022 that a forest fire in the Harz Mountains called for a large-scale operation by the fire brigade.
Drought, mountains of dead wood, a lack of firebreaks: the fear of bare slopes in the Harz is growing.
That is why Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are now also using aircraft for early forest fire detection.
Rapid disaster relief for countries inside and outside the EU
For example, if a European country is in need because of a natural or fire disaster, other countries will help.
Concrete cooperation is governed by the civil protection mechanism of the European Union.
The aim is to coordinate the deployment of civil protection services in the event of large-scale disasters inside and outside the EU.
The Italian fire-fighting aircraft that extinguish at the Brocken use this mechanism.
Specifically: If a country needs help in dealing with a disaster, it requests help from the "Emergency Response Coordination Center" (ERCC) - the core of the disaster control process.
Based in Brussels, the ERCC is the European “Centre for the Coordination of Emergency Response” and is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
On the German side, numerous teams from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) are available - for example for drinking water treatment.
There are specialists in this area in southern Lower Saxony and northern Hesse in Göttingen and Rotenburg.
(bsc)
List of rubrics: © Julian Stratenschulte