Field fire in St. Michael: 4 hectares destroyed wheat - fire brigade in action!

Field fire in St. Michael: 4 hectares destroyed wheat - fire brigade in action!

St. Michael ob Bleiburg, Österreich - A spectacular small fire occurred on June 26, 2025 in the Völkermarkt district, more precisely in St. Michael ob Bleiburg. The assignment was triggered by a 27-year-old farmer who carried out harvesting work on a field with a combine with a combine.

After the warred of a edge series, a fire broke out in the edited area. Weather conditions such as dryness and strong wind contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. As a result, eleven fire departments from the area were alerted to contain and combat the fire. click Carinthia reports that the fire brigade took effective measures to prevent spreading to adjacent fields and to quickly control the fire.

Fire brigade use and damage

A total of 143 firefighters with 28 vehicles were deployed, including the Mahle company fire brigade. Additional fire brigades have been alerted with tank fire engines, and a supply line was set up by the nearby Globasnitzbach. Despite the emergency services, an area of ​​around four hectares of winter wheat burned down, although the exact amount of damage has not yet been known. The cause of the fire is probably due to sparking by contacting a stone during harvesting work. Technical defects on the combine harvester were not found, which means that the fire can be classified as an unfortunate incident in the harvest.

The information on the emergency services and measures comes from a report by the Kleine Zeitung , which praises the fire's fuidal reaction and the decisive role of the natural fire boundaries in the area emphasized.

agricultural use in Germany

In order to better classify the action in St. Michael ob Bleiburg, it is interesting to take a look at agricultural land use in Germany. According to agriculture.de , about half of the area of ​​Germany is used for agriculture. This comprises around 16.5 million hectares, with 70 percent of this area being arable land. Over a third of the agricultural area serves grain cultivation, in which wheat takes an important part, with about 17.5 percent of the total arable land.

The incident in Carinthia illustrates the challenges that farmers face, especially in times of dryness and strong winds. The contribution of the fire brigade and the interaction of different services are crucial to cope with such dangerous situations.