With the devastating forest fire in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, there is still no real relief in sight.
"After light rain in the area of operations in the early morning, there was a short but heavy shower in the early afternoon. The fire brigade comrades are still hoping for heavier rain with a noticeable impact on fire behavior and the general situation," said the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district office on Saturday afternoon in Pirna with On the Czech side, too, the fire brigade is still in constant use. In contrast, the situation in the forest fire area in southern Brandenburg eased.
Prime Minister Kretschmer deeply affected
In Arzberg (Northern Saxony district) the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) got an overview on Saturday afternoon. He encouraged the people in the affected areas. "We stick together here. We will overcome this serious crisis."
Kretschmer was emotionally touched: "It takes me away because it's my home in Saxony, because I see how people suffer here, how they are on the verge of exhaustion." For him, the images from the flood of 2002 are present again, when he himself worked as a disaster relief worker for the Malteser. He now suddenly feels this exhaustion and hopelessness again, but also the strength that existed back then.
150 hectares of forest affected by the fire
560 emergency services fought the fire in Saxon Switzerland on Saturday. This number is expected to be maintained throughout the weekend. There are now 13 helicopters on site for fire-fighting flights. In addition, quads have been ordered, with which the fire-fighting crews can be supplied more easily and quickly, it said.
On Friday evening, a helicopter reconnaissance flight discovered further fires with heavy smoke along the German-Czech border; including in the Partschenhörner area, on the Großer Winterberg and on the Kleiner Zschand. "These are currently being actively deleted," the district office announced on Saturday afternoon. The emergency services would primarily use firefighting helicopters. These are an effective means of supporting the emergency services on the ground in the very difficult to access area.
The helicopters not only extinguish on Saxon territory, but also on the Czech side, it was said. In addition, it has been agreed with the Czech Republic that helicopters can take on water in the other area and fly over the country in the shortest possible direction to the deployment site.
Four firefighters were injured
The devastating fire in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains broke out in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic last weekend and spread to the Saxon Switzerland National Park on Monday. Disaster alert applies in the cities of Bad Schandau and Sebnitz. According to new findings, around 150 hectares of forest are affected by the fire on the German side.
According to the authorities, at least four firefighters have been injured in the operation so far. Two of them had to be hospitalized. There have been no injuries among the population so far.
On the Czech side in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, the fire brigade stepped up their efforts. On Saturday, 220 additional forces were pulled together from all over the Czech Republic, as a spokesman said. The number of firefighters in the operation has increased to more than 650. The forest fire raged over an area of 10.6 square kilometers, as confirmed by satellite images. The Bohemian Switzerland National Park borders directly on the Saxon Switzerland.
"We will actively go into the embers, pour water over them and dig up the ground," said fire department spokesman Lukas Marvan on Czech television. The fire-fighting work is supported by eight helicopters and five fire-fighting aircraft. Access to large parts of the national park area has now been banned to keep onlookers away.
A firefighter was hit and seriously injured by a falling tree on Saturday afternoon near the Prebischtor, which is considered a landmark of the national park. He was taken to the hospital by helicopter. Another man suffered a serious allergic reaction to bee and wasp stings, and another seriously injured his leg.
In the forest fire area in Brandenburg's Elbe-Elster district on the border with Saxony, however, the situation has eased according to official information. On an area of 500 hectares there are still individual embers that have to be extinguished, according to the administrative staff of the district on Saturday morning. On Friday evening, 250 emergency services were still fighting the flames. The forest fire broke out on Monday and quickly spread to around 800 hectares.
