Schmilka (dpa/sn) - The forest fire in the rear part of Saxon Switzerland has largely been extinguished. The district office in Pirna announced on Friday that there were no longer any open fires, only isolated embers. Firefighters are on site to render these embers harmless. One hopes for support from above – rain is expected in the area in the coming hours and also at the weekend. At least a drizzle covered the region on Friday morning.
As a result of the relaxed situation, the disaster alarm for Bad Schandau was lifted on Friday. The district office announced that there was no longer any acute danger. This also eliminates the ban on entering the area of operation.
At the same time, the authority revoked the ban on fireworks in the region. "The forecast weather development ensures that the soil and forest layers will cool down and become saturated in the meantime. There is currently no increased risk of fires being caused by flying sparks from fireworks," it said.
The fire in a hard-to-reach part of the Saxon Switzerland National Park broke out on July 25 and spread to an area of about 150 hectares. Since then, hundreds of firefighters from other parts of Saxony and Germany have been busy with the extinguishing work.
