Schmilka (dpa/sn) - In the fight against the forest fire in Saxon Switzerland, the "Yellow Angels" of the aid organization @fire are also deployed. The trademark of the firefighters is the yellow protective clothing, which is also worn by their colleagues in the USA. 35 people have been on site since July 26 - the day after the fire spread from Bohemian Switzerland to Saxon Switzerland - said club spokesman Sebastian Baum on Wednesday on request. The operation is scheduled until Friday.
Baum described the area as a particular challenge when fighting the fire. "The individual burn spots are difficult to reach. They are also fairly spread out." There are many "spotfires" and not one large burning area. "You can't put it out from the air alone. But the water drops over the helicopters help a lot to contain the fire. But it actually has to be extinguished on the ground. You have to dig up the ground to get to the hot spots."
On Wednesday, the @fire people, including several women, set out in temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius. Of course, it is much hotter at the fire sites. According to Baum, the aid organization specializes in fighting fires with little water. To do this, you dig up the ground with special tools. The aim is also to create so-called stop lines so that the flames cannot spread further. Water containers were flown in by helicopter, to which the hoses could be connected. The fire brigade is also in the process of building up the hose network – which is dependent on the public water supply.
The association @fire - International Disaster Control is a non-profit, non-governmental aid organization that provides help in the event of natural disasters. This year, the comrades had also helped with fires in Portugal. The association was founded in 2002 as a voluntary network of professional and voluntary firefighters and is based in Osnabrück. According to their own statements, around 400 members are currently active. Before their deployment in Saxon Switzerland, they had also helped with the fire in Falkenberg in southern Brandenburg.
