Just a few years ago, some news programs saved themselves from the summer slump by hanging a lengthy report on the annual forest fires in distant California at the end of the issue.
In the meantime, the forest fires have not only moved closer geographically, but also further up the news.
First the devastating fires in southern Europe, now the great fire in Saxony.
According to experts, the increased number of fires is a consequence of the rapidly escalating climate change.
The danger, stronger one year and weaker the next, will therefore become a summer norm on the continent.
Not all regions are affected equally.
The east of Germany, where the soil suffers particularly badly from drought, is particularly vulnerable.
The risk is particularly high in pine forests on sandy soils.
Burning is not an option
Politicians are aware of these dangers and have already reacted.
Many fire brigades in the risk areas are equipped with better equipment and more tactics are practiced.
Monitoring the forests with modern camera technology and more extinguishing capacities from the air would also be important.
But even in the forest itself, you have to trade through aisles or green bars made of deciduous trees.
Emergency services must find passable paths in the forests and have access to water.
Such measures must also be enforced against jungle dreams of some associations.
Because burning is not an option.
The goal must be neither a conifer monoculture nor an untouched natural forest, but a mixed, near-natural cultivated forest that binds a lot of CO2, supplies the climate-friendly raw material wood and is designed to be resilient to forest fires.
And otherwise, as always, every measure against global warming also helps the forest in the long term.
Not throwing away a cigarette there even helps in the short term.
Because not only climate change, but also most forest fires are man-made.