The major fire on the Brocken occupies politics in Saxony-Anhalt. Should the deadwood be taken out of the forest? The purchase of new extinguishing technology is also being discussed.
Magdeburg/Wernigerode (dpa/sa) - In the course of the major fire on the Brocken, a debate about the causes of the fire began in state politics in Saxony-Anhalt. The CDU parliamentary group is in favor of removing the deadwood from the forest, the opposition Greens reject this. In addition, several factions in the state parliament are calling for the purchase of new extinguishing technology.
CDU parliamentary group leader Guido Heuer advocated amending the law on the Harz National Park on Monday. "It's very simple: the dead wood has to be removed from the forest," said Heuer in Magdeburg. Appropriate talks must now be held with the state of Lower Saxony and an agreement sought.
The opposition Greens, who were Environment Minister Claudia Dalbert from 2016 to 2021, reject this. You have to stick to the national park law in its current form, said parliamentary group leader Cornelia Lüddemann. Instead, investments must be made in extinguishing technology such as helicopters and airplanes.
The black-red-yellow coalition is also open to this. One urgently needs to discuss the extinguishing technology, said Heuer. Support comes from FDP faction leader Andreas Silbersack. "Of course we also have to think about how we can get fire-fighting aircraft in Saxony-Anhalt," said Silbersack. Possible solutions would have to be discussed with the neighboring federal states. The parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Rüdiger Erben, spoke out in favor of relying on high-performance helicopters. These are more effective than airplanes.
On Sunday, in addition to two Italian fire-fighting aircraft, five fire-fighting helicopters were also used in the major fire on the Brocken. One could say "a big thank you to the country of Italy" for the quick help, said left-wing faction leader Eva von Angern. Pressure will be put on the state government to use its own technology to remedy the situation in the future. AfD co-chairman Ulrich Siegmund said that what was happening around the fire had to be evaluated and then "upgraded if necessary".
According to the Harz district, around 150 hectares (1.5 square kilometers) are affected by the forest fire. The cause is still unclear. The district of Harz has declared a disaster. The authorities assume that the extinguishing work will take several days.
The Harz National Park is located in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It is characterized by dead spruces. Man-made monoculture is a fundamental problem in the approximately 250 square kilometers (25,000 hectares) of the national park. Around 80 percent of the tree population is spruce. Of these, almost 90 percent have died, said National Park Director Roland Pietsch recently. Pests such as the bark beetle, drought and strong storms are among the reasons.
