Extreme forest fires in Carinthia: Fire brigade fights against the flames!

Extreme forest fires in Carinthia: Fire brigade fights against the flames!

Bleiburg, Österreich - In the Carinthian district of Völkermarkt, two serious forest fires in the towns of Bleiburg and Ruden occurred on Saturday afternoon. In a large deployment, 17 fire departments mobilized around 275 emergency services to combat the flames. The emergency services were able to report "fire" in the afternoon, but the cause of the fires has so far been unknown. In Bleiburg, an area of around 400 square meters of forest was affected, and strong winds made it difficult to extinguish the extinguishing work. Around 200 firefighters were deployed here who use modern extinguishing technology such as extinguishing bags and drones. About 800 square meters burned in Ruden, for which around 75 emergency services provided to extinguish individual embers and rootstocks. Class = "Source_1"> Oe24.at reports that these forest fires trigger a new alarm about the dangers in the Austrian forests.

global developments in forest fires

The Situation in Carinthia is not isolated. A current study shows that the frequency and intensity of forest fires worldwide has more than doubled in the past 20 years. This investigation, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution , analyzed almost 3,000 large forest fires between 2003 and 2023. The report reveals that the frequency of extreme forest fires has increased by 2.2 times during this period. The years from 2017 to 2023 are particularly important, in which the greatest intensity and frequency were recorded. The regions with the most devastating effects are especially coniferous forests in the western United States as well as boreal forests in Alaska, Nordkanada and Russia.

In addition, the researchers warn of a "feedback effect" in which the loss of trees CO2 is released into the atmosphere, which continues to fuel global warming. The study therefore demands improvement in forest management in order to be able to better adapt to the changed climatic conditions. The connection between climate changes and forest fire frequency is alarming and illustrated how urgently need to be taken to counteract future disasters. Class = "Source_3"> The press emphasizes that these trends should also be taken seriously in Europe, especially in view of the current events in Carinthia.