Bad Schandau (dpa/sn) - According to Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, further investments in fire protection are necessary to fight forest fires. "We will - and have already advertised this - buy three helicopters that can also transport water," the CDU politician told Bayerischer Rundfunk on Tuesday. When a forest fire breaks out, you have to be able to "react within minutes". This discussion should take place together with the federal government, but also across federal state borders.
Meanwhile, the situation with the forest fire in Saxon Switzerland has not eased in the second week. The fire keeps breaking out, said the spokesman for the district office of the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains, Thomas Kunz, on Tuesday. With rising temperatures and drought, the formation of flames also increases. "We need rain to ease the situation," he said.
According to the information, 300 firefighters were on duty on Tuesday morning, and around 550 are expected during the day. The focus of the work is on the Grenzweg to the Black Gorges, on the Richter Gorges and the Bärenfangmauern. In the northern area of the Kirnitzsch valley, water cannons from the police in Saxony and Bavaria are also used. They distribute water on the shoulders of the paths so that the embers don't spread as much.
