Flames over Bitsch (VS) – 6 claims about forest fires in the fact check – News

140 soccer fields. So much forest area is currently affected by the fire in Upper Valais. Emergency services have been fighting the blazing flames since Monday. They’re not under control yet.

But how is the forest doing when the current 300 sources of fire have been extinguished? Has it been destroyed or is it actually good for nature? Checking out the best-known fire theories:

1. The forest is completely destroyed after a fire.

“That’s not always true,” says fire ecologist Johann Georg Goldammer. He observes forest and landscape fires worldwide. There are actually forest fires in which the vegetation has been largely destroyed.

But there were also landscapes in the tropics or in the northern hemisphere that would have developed over thousands of years as a result of lightning strikes or similar natural fires. These fires are part of the fixed ecosystem and are therefore not always destructive, according to Goldammer.

2. A forest fire is good for nature.

You can’t say that, says Goldammer. There are winners and losers in forest fires: “The winners are primarily plant, grass and tree species that are resistant to fires,” says the fire ecologist. These are catching on, while fire-sensitive species are disappearing. Forest fire expert Marco Conedera agrees: “For nature, a forest fire is a disturbance.” On the one hand, it is a clearing of existing species and at the same time an opportunity for new ones, says Conedera from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).

3. There are more and more fires in the world.

Reliable data on fires worldwide has only existed for 30 years. That’s why you don’t know exactly whether there’s more or less of a fire today, says Goldammer. But: “Recently we see – and especially in 2023 – that we see fires where they have not burned in the last 30 years. This is an indication that we are getting more fire and more problems from the fire,” says Goldammer.

4. The forest fire in Bitsch was arson.

It is still too early to talk about any causes of the fire, said Valais police spokeswoman Adrienne Bellwald at a media conference on Tuesday. However, the public prosecutor’s office in Oberwallis has launched an investigation.

The fact is: 90 percent of all forest fires in Switzerland are man-made – through careless behavior or arson. Arson is extremely rare. “As a rule, forest fires are due to carelessness and negligence,” writes the fire investigation service of the Zurich cantonal police on request.

5. Fireplaces with boundary stones protect against forest fires.

“You overestimate the safety of home-made campfires,” explains forest fire expert Conedera. A fire can be spread by a spark with the wind, or even continue to smolder and reignite for a week in the subsoil. The expert advises protecting the bottom with stones as well, and not just the edges.

6. A shard of glass can start a forest fire.

To prevent forest fires, the TCS has a code of conduct on its site switched on, among other things: “Do not leave any waste lying around, even broken glass lying around can cause a fire due to the sun’s rays.” Is that correct?

A field test in Germany in 2006 showed that despite optimal conditions, broken glass could not ignite. And fire ecologist Goldammer does not believe in it either: “These shards are not the cause of fires.” By the way: The fire investigation service of Kapo Zurich is not aware of any fire that can be traced back to a piece of broken glass.