Waldbrand near Flatow: fire brigade beats down flames, police investigated!

Waldbrand near Flatow: fire brigade beats down flames, police investigated!

Last night, on July 4, the fire brigade reported to combat a forest fire near the old Poststrasse near Flatow (Oberhavel). The emergency services were alerted at 7:30 p.m. and already saw a strong smoke development on the way, which indicated the extent of the fire. A total of around 100 square meters of forest floor burned, which the approximately 40 firefighters from the Kremmen volunteer fire brigade kept in suspense. With three D pipes, however, they quickly managed to control the flames, as the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

The emergency services use fire pats and special forest fire tools to track down embers in the ground. A particularly big challenge arose due to the removal of the site without regular water supply. Therefore, a shuttle traffic with tanker vehicles was set up to support the extinguishing work. The police have already investigated the cause of the fire and there is suspicion of negligent arson.

violent risk of forest fire in Brandenburg

The location in Brandenburg is worrying: parallel to the fire in Flatow there are several active forest fires in the entire state, especially in the south. Interior Minister René Wilke reported about ten active forest fires, with five of them localized in the Lausitz. In addition, the forest fire protection officer Raimund Engel reported that twelve new fire has been registered since Wednesday. The recent heat waves and the continued drought continue to heat the situation, which makes the extinguishing work significantly more difficult, so rbb24 .

A particularly dramatic fire in Gohrischheide in Saxony has expanded to an area of ​​600 hectares since Tuesday and has currently reached a scary expansion of 6,000 hectares. There were also seriously injured firefighters who suffered burns during the extinguishing work. In other regions such as Kleinbahren and Jüterbog, areas are burning and the fire brigade is on alert.

causes and consequences of the forest fires

forest fires are not only a problem locally, but also a nationwide increasing phenomenon. Statistics show that in Germany in 2023 over 1,200 hectares were destroyed by fires. In the previous year, the affected area was over 3,000 hectares, which is the highest value in the past three decades. Much of the fires are caused by negligent arson or other human influences. According to Statista unknown causes.

These developments are further evidence of the devastating effects of climate change, which is noticeable through increasing dry and heat periods. These changes not only have a negative impact on the environment, but increasingly also endanger our ecological balance and health of animals and humans.