A Challenging Mission at the Summit
The fire department is also trying to fight the fire with firefighting helicopters. (Stock photo)
German Press Agency
It brings back memories of the Saurüsselkopf: In the Chiemgau Alps, the mountain forest is on fire—once again in the hard-to-reach summit area. The fire department is responding on a large scale.
Today at 08:16
Today at 08:16In the Chiemgau Alps, a mountain forest fire is burning near the Lackenbergwand above Unterwössen. A large-scale operation is currently underway in the hard-to-reach summit area of the Hochwand, according to the Traunstein District Fire Department Association. This morning, residents in the area were also warned about heavy smoke.
“People are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed, turn off their ventilation and air conditioning systems, and avoid the area around the incident site,” said a spokesperson for the district fire department association. When the alarm was raised on Wednesday evening, a distinct column of smoke was already visible near the summit at just under 1,000 meters above sea level.
Extent still unclear
At first, it was impossible to reliably estimate the exact size of the fire or to determine its cause. However, as of now, no one has been injured.
In general, the conditions at the time the fire broke out were similar to those of the fire at the nearby Saurüsselkopf near Ruhpolding in May, said the fire department spokesperson. That fire had subsequently spread and had been extremely difficult to extinguish. It took a full month before the operation was finally declared over.
Sprinklers are designed to prevent the fire from spreading
In the case of the current fire at the Hochwand, the blaze also spread during the first night. “Last night and during the night, crews began laying out long stretches of hose and setting up so-called circular sprinklers every few meters,” explained the fire department spokesperson. “You can think of them as large garden sprinklers. They’re used to spray the area not affected by the fire in order to prevent it from spreading further.”
To that end, a shuttle service using tanker trucks was set up. Three firefighting helicopters were also still on the scene that evening. “Vehicles cannot reach the source of the fire,” explained the fire department spokesperson. Initially, it had not been possible to directly fight the fire at the summit of the mountain using ground-based resources. At that time, approximately 200 members of the fire departments, mountain rescue, emergency medical services, and the police were on the scene.