Because of a forest fire in the Harz Mountains, around 500 people have been brought to safety from the Brocken. They are tourists, hikers and athletes, said a spokesperson for the Harz district. They were brought from the Harz summit by bus on Friday afternoon. In the evening, after a briefing, a district spokesperson announced that the fire was currently spreading unhindered.
Two years ago, the Harz district declared a state of emergency due to a fire on the Brocken. As was the case then, the Königsberg is now affected again.
Large fire front emerged
Many fire sites have merged and a larger fire front has formed, it was said. Around 150 firefighters are now deployed on the ground. They were brought together from the entire Harz district as well as the neighboring districts of Goslar and Göttingen.
Three aircraft – two from Lower Saxony and one from the Harz district – and a helicopter were involved in the fire-fighting operations. Six additional helicopters from the German army and federal police were requested. The Federal Agency for Technical Relief was also on site.
Another fire on a military training area
There were also fires further to the north-east: a fire broke out during an exercise at the Altmark military training area. The heath burned over a relatively large area, said the press officer of the Army Combat Training Center, Alexander Helle. Strong winds drove the fire further. It spread over a total area of ​​144 hectares. In the evening, Helle announced that the fire had been extinguished.
The main aim was to prevent a forest fire. The fire brigade succeeded in doing this. No one was injured, and no Bundeswehr equipment was damaged. They got off lightly, said Helle. According to the press officer, the trigger was a type of smoke pot used to simulate the firing of a tank. This device became very hot and ignited the heath.
Joint task force formed
The town of Wernigerode and the Harz district formed a joint task force at the Brocken, according to the district spokesman. The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (HSB) announced that the route between Drei Annen Hohne and the Brocken was closed due to the forest fire. There were significant delays.
Same fire site as two years ago
Almost exactly two years ago, there was a day-long firefighting operation at the current fire site due to a forest fire. Up to seven firefighting helicopters and two Italian firefighting planes supported the operation, and there was international help. The fire was discovered at the beginning of September 2022 on the Goetheweg near the Goethebahnhof lookout point. The path to the Brocken is considered one of the most frequently used hiking trails in the Harz National Park. The area is generally very difficult to access.
The risk of forest fires is currently very high in large parts of Saxony-Anhalt. Recently, forest and field fires occurred mainly in the north of the state. Most of them were quickly extinguished.
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