More than 800 hectares of forest between Saxony and Brandenburg are on fire at the weekend. The high temperatures make it difficult to extinguish the fire. The fire continues to eat its way leisurely through the heath, but the situation should be under control for the time being.
In the case of the large forest fire on the state border of Saxony and Brandenburg, the Saxon fire brigade expects that it will be on duty until the end of the week. There is still a fire in the Gohrischheide, said head of operations Matthias Heydel. There in the middle of the nature reserve, the firefighters would not come close to extinguishing. The two to three hectare fire is monitored from the air.
"We have it under control for now," said Heydel. The emergency services' plan is for the fire to slowly eat its way through the heath. At the edge, it is then expected by the emergency services with fire engines. The wind forecasts are currently favorable for this project. A police helicopter is used for surveillance. Around 140 helpers are now deployed on the Saxon side.
However, there are concerns about the persistently high temperatures. The rain on Saturday brought little relief. "In the ground there is still heat of over 500 degrees and more because the humus layer is still smoldering and glowing here," said Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stübgen to the "Tagesspiegel". "And therefore the danger is not yet eliminated." While the risk of wildfires was low given the high humidity on Saturday, temperatures above 30 degrees could allow the fires to flare up again.
The major fire broke out in Gohrischheide in Saxony on Thursday and spread to Mühlberg (Elbe-Elster) in Brandenburg on Friday. More than 800 hectares were at times in flames. In the meantime, two towns had been evacuated.
