Reuters
NOS . News•
Villages on the German-Czech border have been evacuated due to an advanced forest fire. The fire has already destroyed several homes.
On the Czech side of the border, Hrensko municipality has been largely evacuated. In total there are about eighty inhabitants.
In the municipality of Mezna, a number of people had to leave their homes. The fire destroyed several buildings. On the German side of the border, homes have not yet been threatened by flames, authorities said.
About seventy German children who had been camping in the Czech forest were evacuated and brought back to Germany.
Police water cannons deployed
The fire department stated that the fire destroyed hundreds of hectares of nature. There are several fires.
More than 350 firefighters from the Czech Republic and Germany are trying to fight the blaze. German media published two helicopters and 39 fire engines. In addition, two police water cannons are helping to put out the flames and four more helicopters are dispatched today.
A spokesman for the affected German municipality says the firefighting is difficult due to strong winds. So far, seven firefighters have been injured. Tourists and hikers have been told to avoid the nature reserve.
Poland and Slovakia are sending helicopters to help, and Italy has offered special planes to fight the fires.
Firefighters fighting the fire:
Huge fire in a national park on the German-Czech border
The fire broke out in the Czech Republic in the Bohemia Switzerland National Park. Despite the efforts of the firefighters, the fire spread to the German part of the nature reserve, Saxon Switzerland.
The blaze is believed to have been caused by a camp fire that was left unattended last weekend. Due to the heat wave of the past period, the plants in the forest dried up, causing the fires to catch on quickly.
Smoke can be seen or smelled over a wide area. He writes even in the Czech capital Prague, 90 km fire bridge on Twitter.
On fire in the rest of Europe
There are also wildfires in other parts of Europe. A large fire broke out on the Greek island of Lesbos a few days ago. Villages there were evacuated and national parks closed to the public.
Also in the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park, which is located in northeastern Greece, a fire that lasted for several days destroyed parts of nature. Fires also broke out in the Peloponnese, which led to the evacuation of people.
In Spain, wildfires that have hit large areas have now been largely extinguished, but new bushfires on the Canary Island of Tenerife are causing concern. And also in Italy, near Gorizia, a fire broke out.
In France, large forest fires have been burning near Bordeaux for about two weeks. Figures from the European Forest Fire Information System EFFIS show that more nature reserves have been destroyed this year than in all of 2021. Last year, more than 4,700 square kilometers of nature were destroyed, and now nearly 6,000 square kilometers.
