A forest fire near Schwarzau in the mountains called for a large -scale operation throughout the weekend. On Sunday afternoon the fire was brought under control and limited to about eight hectares. Up to 340 firefighters and five fire -feeling helicopters were on Saturday, on Sunday there were 320 and three helicopters.
The fire broke out on Saturday morning in the municipal area of Schwarzau in the Bergen. According to the fire brigade, the cause of the fire may have been a burning vehicle. Because of the strong wind, the flames spread to a nearby forest and spread quickly.
In addition to the surrounding fire brigades from the district, two trains from the Disaster Aid Service, the Flight Service and the Special Service Forest Fire of the State Fire Brigade Command were also warned.
Firefights challenging
The omnipresent drought, strong wind and the mostly overgrown steep terrain made the fire extinguishing difficult and brought some firefighters on the edge of exhaustion, reported District Brandbrigad Commander and head of operations Josef Huber. “The emergency services often had to crawl into the individual sintels on hands and feet, with a maximum of 18 kilos of equipment,” Huber described the situation. Nevertheless, apart from a few minor injuries, all have returned from use so far.
It is currently important to detect and extinguish the existing sintels. According to Huber, an end to the time that is not yet possible should not be taken into consideration. Just like the night before, a fire brigade will be set up in the night of Monday. On Monday the extinguishing work should continue, albeit with somewhat reduced staff compared to the weekend.
Mikl-Leitner thanks emergency services
Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) expressed their recognition for the emergency services. “My thanks go to the hundreds of comrades that are fighting the forest fire in the rax area in the Rax area this weekend. The assignment reminds us of the devastating forest fire in Hirschwang in 2021 and how important it is that we carefully behave in our forests, “she wrote in a broadcast on Sunday.
In the district, a devastating forest fire raged in October 2021. During lunch in Hirschwang, the fire spread within ten hours from five to 115 hectares. In difficult terrain it has become one of the most extensive extinguishing percentages of the past decades. About 9,000 helpers were deployed, only on November 6 was it called “Fire”. There was a arson, a perpetrator was never determined.
Dryness ensures smaller fires in many regions
Due to persistent drought, there were smaller gang and forest fires in countless regions of Austria during the weekend. In various districts, forest fire regulations that regulate behavior in the case of dryness in the forest, and therefore a few weeks earlier than in previous years.
An urgent fire brigade is also: if it starts to burn, warn the fire brigade immediately before you try to extinguish yourself.
Source: Krone
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