Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer assumes that fighting the forest fire in Saxon Switzerland will take a long time.
"It will take days and weeks before we can talk about relaxation," said the CDU politician during a visit to Bad Schandau on Friday evening.
The head of government spoke of a "great and difficult task".
He had previously flown a helicopter over the forest fire area to get an overview.
For this, Kretschmer, like Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU), who was also there on Friday evening when visiting Bad Schandau, canceled his vacation.
The fire brigade and civil protection workers have been in suspense from a devastating fire in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains for days.
A second rages on the Saxon-Brandenburg state border.
The operation will cost a lot of money, Kretschmer spoke of "many millions of euros." He assured the affected regions in the national park and in northern Saxony financial help - also for reconstruction.
At a time when it is getting drier and drier, one must also talk about the future of the national parks, according to Kretschmer.
Among other things, aisles, water management in the forests and the removal of dead wood must be discussed.
In addition, Saxony's head of government thanked the fire brigade, federal police and armed forces for their days of work.
If they stopped working, everything would burn down, emphasized Kretschmer.
"It's a question of strength, who has the stamina, who gives up first." The federal government has also promised to continue to support fire-fighting helicopters.
"The only resource that is really useful here."
At the same time, Kretschmer called on people not to cancel vacations in Saxon Switzerland.
Every trip helps the region.
An area of around 1.5 square kilometers is affected by the forest fire – but Saxon Switzerland covers an area of more than 90 square kilometers.