According to the district administrator of the Harz Mountains, the fire on the Brocken was one of the worst in recent decades. According to experts, the fire revealed large gaps in fire prevention.
Schierke (dpa/sa) – The fire brigade in Saxony-Anhalt and the district administrator of the Harz Mountains called for conceptual reforms in firefighting in Saxony-Anhalt after the major fire on the Brocken. Many demands from the fire brigade have not been taken into account for years, said the chief of the state fire brigade, Kai-Uwe Lohse, on Monday in Wernigerode. The fire in the Harz again revealed the weaknesses in fighting fires.
The head of the state fire brigade presented several demands: Aisles and passable paths would have to be created in areas at risk of fire. The early detection of fires with cameras and sensors must also be improved. In addition, the supply of fire-fighting water is sometimes desolate. He cannot understand why so little has been done in recent years, said Lohse. “We stand here on the spot.”
Another point is the supply of fire-fighting aircraft and helicopters. There could be cooperation with neighboring federal states, said Lohse. The fire brigade in Saxony-Anhalt does not have its own helicopters or planes. New ideas and concepts are needed on how to create a quickly operational network from the air, said Lohse. “We haven’t spoken to each other here before.”
Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister of Forestry, Sven Schulze, called for a base in Germany in the event of a possible expansion of the EU-wide fire-fighting aircraft fleet. Should Europe decide to expand the season, it would be appropriate to think about creating such a base in Germany, the CDU politician told the German Press Agency on Monday.
According to the former MEP, this should at least be discussed at EU level. Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had already called for the squadron to be expanded last week.
Last week, around 160 hectares of forest burned down on the Brocken. The firefighting with more than 1800 forces lasted more than a week. A total of eleven fire-fighting helicopters, two fire-fighting aircraft and two drones were deployed in the steep and sometimes difficult-to-access area. According to Lohse, three million liters of water were consumed every day. The costs would have been around 800,000 euros per day.
It is also being discussed whether the dead wood in the Harz Mountains has to be removed as a material that promotes combustion. You can’t drag everything out, said Lohse. However, aisles would have to be cleared and deadwood that would be dangerous for the emergency services would have to be removed. That alone would be “a gigantic amount,” said Lohse.
