Wild fires: a new threat to Germany?

Flames have been ripping through the woods of east Germany in recent weeks

The aftermath of a wild fire in Brandenburg. Photo: the wilderness society

Background

Fire fighters have been trying to hold back forest fires in several regions of Germany in recent weeks, including a large blaze in the beautiful Saxonian Switzerland national park (on the border to the Czech Republic not Switzerland!).

Meanwhile, a wild fire in nearby Brandenburg ripped through 800 hectares of forest, forcing 600 people to flee their homes while incinerating hundreds of animals at a pig farm.

Weeks of drought and high temperatures have created the perfect conditions for fire to spread. The arid, sandy forests of eastern Germany are particularly vulnerable to such conditions.

The drama even reached the German capital last Thursday when an accidental explosion at a police munitions depot in a forest on the city perimeter caused a fire that briefly brought western Berlin to a stand still.