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Firefighters Scale Back Crews as Saalfelder Höhe and Gohrischheide Fires Stabilize

Crews rely on helicopters in munitions-laden zones as drought heightens fire risk

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Symbolfoto: skeeze/pixabay.com

Overview

  • The massive forest blazes on the Saalfelder Höhe in Thuringia and the Gohrischheide on the Saxony-Brandenburg border remain active but contained under a reduced force of around 200 to 400 personnel.
  • Landkreis Meißen ordered the evacuation of about 45 residents from Jacobsthal Bahnhof as flames approached the outskirts of the Saxony village.
  • Ground teams are barred from sections of the Gohrischheide former military training area due to unexploded ordnance, forcing reliance on aerial water drops to hold fire lines.
  • Recent smaller wildfires in Weisenheim am Berg and the Göllheimer Wald have been extinguished, and structural fires in Solingen’s Ittertal, Berlin-Neukölln, and Wolkersdorf were quickly brought under control with no injuries reported.
  • Officials warn persistent summer drought and heat-driven dryness continue to pose a high fire threat, spurring calls to enhance water logistics and expand aerial firefighting capacity.