Bad Schandau (dpa/sn) - The Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district office partially lifts the ban on entering the forest in the district. The all-day ban on entering the forest will be lifted from Sunday, the district announced on Saturday evening. The reason for this is that in the coming days, despite low rainfall, a forest fire risk is forecast to be medium at most. For the operation area Hintere Sächsische Schweiz, on the other hand, there is still a ban on entry.
"Even if the very low rainfall of the last few days has not brought any significant relaxation of the situation in the area affected by the forest fire, the general risk of forest fires in the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district has decreased noticeably," said the district office. According to the information, the entry ban should minimize the risk of further forest fires. This goal has been achieved. "Individual operations in the forest areas of the district could be brought under control quickly, so that the emergency services could concentrate in particular on the situation in the national park," the district said.
In the Saxon Switzerland National Park forest fire area, around 600 firefighters and twelve firefighting helicopters were still busy fighting embers deep underground on Saturday. The operational area covers an area of around 150 hectares - this corresponds to the size of around 210 soccer fields. There is no end in sight as long as heavy rainfall does not support the work, said Yamina Benamara from the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district office on Saturday morning on request. According to the German weather service, no rain is expected for the entire coming week.
The fire broke out in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park and then spread to the Saxon Switzerland National Park. On the Czech side, according to the local authorities, the fire is under control.
