Only on Thursday evening, around 6 p.m., could a fire in the forest near Königstein im Taunus, which broke out in the morning, be extinguished.

A wooded area of ​​about six hectares had burned there.

At times, up to 250 firefighters were on duty at the scene of the fire.

After the police initially reported a small fire in the morning, it spread further.

Even after 6 p.m., post-extinguishing work was still necessary to fight embers, for example.

Florentine Fritzen

Correspondent in the Hochtaunus district

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A helicopter was also used to extinguish the fire.

During the afternoon he scooped water out of the Billtalweiher with a special device and flew it to the scene of the fire.

Four firefighters were injured in the operation, two of them had to be taken to a hospital.

The fire brigades from Königstein and several surrounding towns and communities helped with the extinguishing work.

The cause of the fire was initially unclear, arson could not be ruled out, it said.

In Königstein and the surrounding area, a number of emergency vehicles could be seen and sirens heard for hours.

Since the smoke was also moving through the Taunus, numerous residents reported to the emergency services.

But there is no health risk, said a police spokesman.

The police blocked roads and paths so that the fire brigade could get to the fire.

A section of federal highway 8 was also closed.

The cloud of smoke was temporarily visible as far as Frankfurt.

At the weekend it had already burned in the Taunus on the sand plague.

Forester Carolin Pfaff from the Königstein Forestry Office was concerned on Thursday with a view to the extinguishing water because of the current water shortage.

The fire brigades fetched extinguishing water for the emergency vehicles from a hydrant in Königstein-Falkenstein near their Kronberg district on Thursday afternoon.

But the water tanks were increasingly empty these days, said the forester.