Wildfires trigger evacuations in eastern Germany

A disaster alert for wildfires was issued for three communities in the Gohrischheide forest on the border between the states of Saxony and Brandenburg on Thursday.

According to the emergency warning app Nina, the Saxon communities of Zeithain and Wülknitz and the town of Gröditz are affected and evacuations are underway.

At least two firefighters have been seriously injured according to media reports.

The fire in the Gohrischheide broke out on Tuesday, with firefighters battling the flames since then. Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) plans to visit the site in the afternoon to get an update on the current situation.

Multiple evacuations

Reports on the extent of the fire have varied considerably: The district administration reported on Thursday that 200 hectares had burned. However, according to firefighters on site, the fire is said to cover an area of around 1,000 hectares.

Authorities also noted potential hazards due to the risk that ammunition left on a former military training area could detonate in the blaze.

The villages of Heidehäuser and Neudorf and parts of the village of Lichtensee have been evacuated, including forty-five residents in a home for severely disabled people in the Wülknitz district of Heidehäuser have also been moved.

More than 500 emergency personnel have been called into action in both states. 

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Fire in southern Thuringia

Fires were also reported in southern Thuringia. According to an expert, the forest fire on the Saalfelder Höhe has reached a scale not seen in the state for more than 30 years.

Figures on the extent of the fire that broke out on Wednesday in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district are still pending, said Horst Sproßmann, press spokesman for the Thuringia Forestry Agency.

“But it is still by far the largest forest fire we’ve had in Thuringia since 1993,” he told the German Press Agency. 

With reporting by DPA.