Fighting Forest Fire – Rax: Worry about the wind and jump over the flames

The fight of the emergency services against the blazing forest fire in Hirschwang an der Rax in Lower Austria continues uninterrupted. More than 115 hectares have been destroyed by the flames so far, and the extinguishing work continued during the night. The weather forecast makes the emergency services wrinkle big worries – because strong winds are supposed to set in and could thus further fan the fire. But the flames are already at the gates of the Rax.

Only the Schwarza and a street still separate the fire area from the Rax, reported Franz Resperger from the state fire brigade command opposite the “Krone”. It is essential to prevent the fire from jumping to the Rax. “If the wind goes in the direction of Rax in the next few hours, as forecast, we will have a jet effect there. The Höllental becomes narrower, the wind becomes stronger and this nozzle intensifies the fire, ”said Andreas Januskovecz, Forest Director of the City of Vienna.

“The danger that exists is that the forest fire that is currently on the Schneeberg side will jump over to the Rax side,” explained Januskovecz. Even there, the terrain is barely or not accessible, and the conditions are very difficult.

Aisles on the Rax too?
Already on Tuesday, a line of defense had been cut in the forest near Hirschwang, each 800 meters long and 15 meters wide, in order to stop the flames from spreading.
Now this measure is also being considered on the Rax, says Resperger. Large tank fire engines with water cannons would now be brought into position, the spokesman announced on Wednesday morning. The night was relatively calm, there was no wind.

300 firefighters are back in action, like LH deputy Stephan Pernkopf emphasized on Wednesday, “under the most dangerous conditions”. The situation is very critical and tense. He also expressed his thanks to the helpers. “I would like to thank everyone who works here day and night, ”said Pernkopf. “The forces of nature are strong, but the forces of the emergency services are also incredibly strong. Thank you very much for that. “

Helicopters of the armed forces and the police also support the extinguishing work. “Due to the location of the narrow valley, the flight space is currently saturated. Should the situation shift, however, sufficient helicopters can be re-alerted, ”said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner’s (ÖVP) office to the“ Krone ”. So there are still dozens of aircraft ready for an emergency on the Rax at the responsible military command.

The forest should now be kept moist, said Resperger about the next steps. “The situation is not yet under control. Our greatest danger will be that the next few hours will bring a major change in the weather. It is our turn to prevent fire flashovers in other areas, “said state fire brigade commander Dietmar Fahrafellner, who emphasized the danger for his team during this mission:” It is very dangerous for us here because rockslides keep coming. That is why we have our medical service with an emergency doctor here on site when we have to supply our forces in difficult terrain. “

Massive drought
The persistent drought of the past few weeks had further contributed to the forest fire. As the Austrian Severe Weather Center announced on Wednesday, there is a decrease of 65 percent compared to the long-term average in terms of rain in the region. If 67 liters of rain per square meter would normally fall in October, this year it was only 28. The deviation was even greater in September: instead of 97, only 28 liters of rain fell per square meter.

The fire, which, according to Resperger, has developed into “the largest forest fire that ever existed in Austria” broke out on Monday. The flames spread extremely quickly – from five to more than 100 hectares in ten hours.

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