By noon, the first evacuations had already been lifted. In the villages of Kölsa and Rehfeld, which belong to Falkenberg, people were able to return to their homes. In the evening, the evacuation order was also lifted for the Kölsa settlement. The evacuation of the three towns was ordered on Monday, affecting around 700 residents.
According to the district, however, the extinguishing work continued unabated near the Lönnewitz industrial park. The area of application covered around 500 hectares. It was assumed that the extinguishing work would have to continue until Wednesday.
The authorities had declared a major damage situation on Monday afternoon. The fire, which broke out for an initially unknown reason in a forest area with wind turbines, spread quickly - driven by violent gusts of wind. A pig fattening facility also burned down.
A total of 480 forces from several districts with 90 vehicles were deployed. Seven firefighters were injured. Support came from several Bundeswehr helicopters and a police helicopter to reconnoiter the situation. A Bundeswehr armored personnel carrier was also supposed to cut a path to prevent the fire from spreading.
The district issued a bathing ban for the Kiebitzsee for the water withdrawal of the helicopters. Part of federal highway 183 was also closed. For the night, the emergency services expected further relaxation, as the wind died down and even light rain was forecast.
More than 250 firefighters were also deployed in a forest fire in Saxony, and the federal police and armed forces also support the extinguishing work. The fire broke out on Sunday morning in the Czech National Park Bohemian Switzerland and then spread to German territory.
The district office responsible for the municipality of Bad Schandau triggered a disaster alarm on Tuesday. A precursor to the disaster alarm was issued for Sebnitz on Monday. In addition, a 24-hour ban on entering all forests in the district in the Saxon Switzerland and Eastern Ore Mountains regions was imposed.
The forest fire situation is "remains tense," said the Saxon Ministry of the Environment on Tuesday. The fire sometimes covered long distances because the wind carried sparks far and ignited the dried-up forest vegetation elsewhere. According to the authorities, the firefighting will continue for several days.
