320 rescuers in action

Spread of the forest fire in Lower Austria stopped for the time being

The flames raged in the Rax mountains and triggered a large-scale operation by the fire department and police on Saturday morning.

(Bild: MAX SLOVENCIK)

A forest fire near Schwarzau im Gebirge required a large-scale operation throughout the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, the fire was brought under control and contained to around eight hectares. Up to 340 firefighters and five firefighting helicopters were deployed on Saturday, on Sunday there were still 320 and three helicopters.

The fire broke out on Saturday morning in the municipality of Schwarzau im Gebirge. According to the fire department, the cause of the fire was probably a burning vehicle. Due to the strong wind, the flames spread to a nearby wooded area and spread rapidly.

In addition to the surrounding fire departments from the district, two platoons of the disaster relief service, the air service and the special forest fire service of the provincial fire brigade command were also alerted.

Firefighting challenging
The omnipresent dryness, strong winds and the steep terrain, which was largely overgrown with pine trees, made the firefighting work difficult and brought some firefighters to the brink of exhaustion, reported district fire brigade commander and head of operations Josef Huber. "The firefighters often had to crawl up to the individual pockets of embers on all fours, carrying up to 18 kilos of heavy equipment," said Huber, describing the situation. Nevertheless, apart from a few minor injuries, everyone has so far returned from the operation unharmed.

The task at the moment is to track down and extinguish the remaining embers. According to Huber, there is no end to the operation yet. A fire watch will be set up on Monday night, as it was the night before. On Monday, the firefighting work will continue, albeit with slightly fewer personnel than at the weekend.

The steep terrain, largely overgrown with pine trees, is making it even more difficult for the firefighters.

(Bild: NÖ LFK)

The air service with 50 firefighters and two firefighting helicopters from the Ministry of the Interior also took part in the firefighting on Saturday.

(Bild: MAX SLOVENCIK)

Mikl-Leitner thanks the emergency services
Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) expressed her appreciation to the emergency services. "My thanks go to the hundreds of comrades who battled the forest fire in the Rax region this weekend under extremely difficult conditions. The operation reminds us of the devastating forest fire in Hirschwang in 2021 and how important it is that we behave carefully in our forests," she wrote in a statement on Sunday.

A devastating forest fire raged in the district in October 2021. At Mittagsteig in Hirschwang, the fire spread from five to 115 hectares within ten hours. In difficult terrain, it became one of the most complex firefighting operations of recent decades. Around 9,000 helpers were deployed and it was not until November 6 that the fire was declared out. It was assumed to be arson, but a perpetrator was never identified.

Drought causes smaller fires in many regions
Due to the ongoing drought, there were small wildfires and forest fires in many regions of Austria at the weekend. In several districts, forest fire regulations governing what to do in the event of drought in the forest have already come into force, several weeks earlier than in previous years.

Another urgent piece of advice from the fire department is: if it starts to burn, alert the fire department immediately, even before you try to put it out yourself.