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Rescue in the mountains: Fire brigade fights against devilish embers!
Forest fire near Schwarzau in the mountains: 340 firefighters on duty, cause of fire unknown. Difficult extinguishing work continues.
Rescue in the mountains: Fire brigade fights against devilish embers!
A devastating forest fire broke out in the Rax-Schneeberg area, more precisely near Schwarzau im Gebirge, on Saturday morning. The fire is believed to have been started by a burning vehicle, and due to strong winds, the flames quickly spread to an adjacent forest area. The fire was finally brought under control on Sunday afternoon, with the affected area limited to around eight hectares. District fire brigade commander Josef Huber explained that up to 340 helpers and five fire-fighting helicopters were in action on Saturday, and on Sunday there were still 320 emergency services and three helicopters to fight the embers. According to Huber, some fire department members were slightly injured.
Show of strength by the fire department
The fire brigade is still faced with an “extremely strenuous operation in steep terrain,” reports Huber in an interview with noe.ORF.at. The helpers often had to crawl on all fours to the individual embers, burdened with heavy equipment weighing up to 18 kilograms. From Monday morning, new embers were detected with thermal imaging cameras and the ground was torn up in order to specifically extinguish them. An optimistic weather forecast with little wind gives the emergency management hope that they will be able to further contain the fire, even if complete control could take a few more days.
A review of past events shows that the area was already hit by a huge forest fire in 2021, which affected over 115 hectares and required the deployment of almost 9,000 rescuers. This historic fire was one of the most complex firefighting operations in recent decades and required tireless cooperation between the emergency services. In view of the current fire, many in the region are worried and are hoping for a quick solution to this dangerous situation, while the fire brigade will continue to operate until the all-clear is given, as puls24.at also reported.