Dresden (dpa/sn) - Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) will award so-called forest fire medals for the first time this year. The State Chancellery announced on Monday in Dresden that a total of 3,500 thank-you medals are to be awarded to helpers who have been involved in fighting the forest fires in Saxony this summer. They are a sign of recognition for the extraordinary help of emergency services and volunteers.
Numerous women and men worked to the point of exhaustion and thus prevented even worse things from happening, said the head of government. A medal can be awarded to all people who, in dealing with the major forest fires in Gohrischheide (Meissen district), in the municipality of Arzberg (Northern Saxony district) or in Saxon Switzerland in July and August, spent at least one day personally on site or in the Disaster control staffs were in action, it said.
According to the State Chancellery, the first awards will take place at the thank you events for the forest fire helpers on September 16, 2022 at Königstein Fortress in the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district and on September 30, 2022 in Torgau (Northern Saxony district).
