The forest fire in Bohemian Switzerland actually seemed to be under control on Monday.

But then the wind picked up in the afternoon and fanned the flames and embers again.

The fire then spread both north towards the German border and east towards tourist attractions such as the Prebischtor, a famous natural sandstone bridge, and the Edmundsklamm, Tomas Salov, spokesman for the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, told MDR.

The Czech authorities then evacuated the area, including a children's holiday camp.

"The situation looks dramatic, also because burning tree trunks are already falling down into the gorge," said Salov.

Stephen Locke

Correspondent for Saxony and Thuringia based in Dresden.

  • Follow I follow

On Sunday morning, the forest fire broke out near the border town of Herrnskretschen (Hřensko) on an area of ​​seven hectares.

Like a week earlier on the German side below the bastion, this was an enormous challenge for the emergency services because the rocky terrain with steep slopes and ravines made firefighting considerably more difficult.

In the Czech Republic, fire brigades, police and army were deployed with fire-fighting helicopters and a fire-fighting plane.

However, they could not prevent the fire from spreading across the border into the Saxon Switzerland National Park.

A far-reaching catastrophe

The consequences were felt on Monday evening as far as Dresden, 50 kilometers away.

The southeast wind had driven smoky wafts of fog with a strong smell of burning through the Elbe valley to the state capital.

Numerous citizens who wanted to know where the fire in the city was burning called the Dresden fire brigade.

Authorities asked residents to keep windows and doors closed.

Meanwhile, the fire continued to rage throughout the night.

It hasn't rained in the region for many weeks, and the forest floor has dried out deep down.

On Tuesday, the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district issued a disaster alarm.

Recordings showed dense clouds of grey-white smoke rising between the striking sandstone cliffs, as well as flames, some of which were several meters high.

Tourists were asked to avoid the rear Saxon Switzerland area at all costs.

Federal highway 172 through Bad Schandau was also closed to public traffic so as not to impede firefighting.

In the afternoon, the district also issued an entry ban for all forests in the region.

Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) broke off his vacation because of the forest fires.

Triggered by people

Around the Großer Winterberg, the highest elevation in the national park, there are now five deployment sites at work, the district office in Pirna said.

A total of more than 250 forces from the local fire brigade and the federal and state police are in action.

They also control two water cannons, each with a capacity of 10,000 liters, as well as a fire-fighting helicopter operated by the Federal Police, with which water can be picked up primarily from the Elbe and dumped over particularly impassable fire sites.

In addition, four fire-fighting helicopters from the Bundeswehr were expected.

According to the authorities, evacuations are not necessary for the time being.

On the other hand, on the Czech side, several places were evacuated on Tuesday, including Herrnskretschen (Hřensko) and the municipality of Mezna, where three houses were burnt and two others were damaged.

The forces had previously tried to protect the community, but they threatened to be trapped by the flames.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakušan said during a visit to the region that the government had also asked for international help.

Poland and Slovakia sent helicopters and Italy fire-fighting planes, news portal CT24 reported.

On Tuesday alone, more than 400 firefighters were deployed on the Bohemian side, around half of them volunteers.

The fire is one of the largest in years, and more than 30 hectares of forest are now affected.

When asked about the cause, national park spokesman Salov ruled out a natural cause.

There was no lightning, one is sure that the fire was caused by people.

This is another heavy blow for the national parks on both sides of the border, after large areas of forest fell victim to drought and the bark beetle in the past three years.

The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) called on the government of Saxony to change course quickly on climate protection on Tuesday.

"The depressing images of the fires from Saxon Switzerland show how high the costs of delayed climate protection are and that it hits us with full force," said BUND country head Felix Ekardt.

The main thing is to comply with rules – above all the fire ban.