Waldbrand in Zirl: Fire brigade fights against embers - locked road!

Waldbrand in Zirl: Fire brigade fights against embers - locked road!

In the Innsbruck-Land district in Tyrol, there has been a forest fire in Zirl since the night of Saturday. The emergency services were alerted at 2:40 a.m. According to 5min.at, five fire brigades, the professional fire brigade Innsbruck as well as the mountain rescue and the mountain rescue Zirl are in action. The police are also active and support the measures with a helicopter.

An exploration flight with a drone confirmed the presence of a glowing fire in the ground, which made the extinguishing work priority in daybreak on June 28th. The B171 Tiroler Straße between Zirl and Kranebitte is currently closed in both directions. However, the duration of the lock is still unclear and depends on the progress in the extinguishing rate.

collaboration of emergency services

A total of seven fire departments are involved in the extinguishing work. The mobile surveillance group Innsbruck and a helicopter of a private company support the firefighters on site. The fire brigade and police regularly inform the public about the status of the extinguishing work and the effects of the roadblock.

This event is in the context of an increasingly worrying development, since forest fires in many regions of the world, also in Europe, increase. The Statista reports of an increase in the risk of fire through the consequences of climate change, in particular through longer dry and heat periods. In recent years in particular, southern European countries as well as the USA and the Amazon region have been affected by devastating forest fires.

global trends in forest fire development

In 2023, over 1,200 hectares were destroyed by forest fires in Germany. While the number of fires has dropped compared to the previous year, the danger remains. Common causes are arson and human negligence, with many fires of unknown origin. Forest fires not only have catastrophic effects on the environment, but also cause financial damage and health problems due to the release of fine dust and other pollutants.

The global balance is alarming: since 2001 over 138 million hectares of trees have been destroyed by fire, and in 2023 around 11.9 million hectares of forest space fell victim to the flames. Regions such as the Amazon area and Australia are particularly affected, where the destruction of the forests has accepted dramatic proportions.

Although the fire brigade carries out intensive extinguishing work in Zirl, the endangerment of forest fires remains a serious problem that will also be the focus of attention in the coming years.