Dresden – A forest fire expert does not rule out rockfalls after the fires in the Saxon Switzerland National Park.
“I fear that the fires in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains will lead to dramatic soil erosion and rockfalls. There’s hardly any humus there, the trees are on rock,” said Michael Müller, professor of silviculture and forest protection at the Technical University of Dresden, the newspapers of the Bayern media group on Thursday.
The expert advocated not always extinguishing forest fires in all areas. In a German national park, every fire slows down natural development by decades.
The situation in the pine forests in Brandenburg, for example, is different. “There are areas with a high ammunition load there. Here you have to decide whether you should put out fires or give up and let it go.”
There have been forest fires in southern Brandenburg and in the Saxon Switzerland National Park for days. Hundreds of firefighters fight the flames to the point of exhaustion and are supported by numerous fire-fighting helicopters.
Müller also sees the use and purchase of fire-fighting aircraft as a supporting tool at best. “You can’t put out a forest fire with fire-fighting aircraft. We mainly throw the water onto the treetops and are talking about one to two liters of water per square meter.”
With fire-fighting aircraft, however, one can rob a strong fire of energy for a short time. “The heat and noise level of the fire then abruptly decrease. Then the fire brigades can attack the crucial ground fire.”
Fires continue to spread
The situation on the border with the Czech Republic is still dramatic
The fires in Saxony on the border with the Czech Republic continue to spread. Not good news for emergency services who have been fighting the flames since Monday. The situation on the Czech side is no better. In contrast, there is a slight relaxation in Brandenburg. But even here the danger is far from over.
Wind shifting from the direction of the Czech Republic exacerbated the situation in the Saxon Switzerland National Park during the course of the day. The fight against the fire in the afternoon was aimed at preventing further spread of flames from the neighboring country, the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district office announced. “The emergency services are doing their utmost to further contain the fire.”
The wind at least ensures that the fire-fighting helicopters can take off.