Forest fire at Lübenheen 2019

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Satellite images of the fire on July 1, 2019 at 12:20 p.m. The animation shows a true color image and a processed infrared image that shows the fire front in orange.

The forest fire near Lübenheen in 2019 broke out during the heat wave in Europe on June 30, 2019 at the former military training area Lübenheen in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . The fire spread over 944 hectares. The district declared the disaster . At times, more than 3,000 emergency services from several federal states were deployed, including the Bundeswehr , state and federal police . Several neighboring villages with a total of more than 700 inhabitants were evacuated. It was the largest forest fire in Mecklenburg since 1934.

terrain

The area of ​​the military training area is heavily contaminated with old ammunition from use by the Wehrmacht , the NVA and the Bundeswehr . The navy maintained its main ammunition store there. The camp was blown up in 1945, and large quantities of ammunition remained on the site, capable of being ignited. The property is owned by the federal government and was finally closed as a military training area in 2015. In March 2019, Environment Minister Till Backhaus presented a concept for hazard prevention - especially against forest fires - in coordination with the federal government.

The explosives in the ground made it much more difficult to extinguish the fire. People have to keep a distance of one kilometer from the fire. There were repeated uncontrolled detonations during the extinguishing work.

course

First smaller fire and outbreak of fire

The local fire department put out a small fire on June 28th. A little later, however, the fire broke out again in three places almost simultaneously. On the night of June 30th to July 1st, the three nearby villages of Alt Jabel , Jessenitz-Werk and Trebs with a total of 650 inhabitants and a school holiday camp were evacuated as a precaution, and later the village of Volzrade . To protect the localities from the fire spreading, the fire brigade set up a so-called bolt position . In Alt Jabel, the swimming pool of an open-air pool was pumped empty to obtain extinguishing water . On July 1, 2019, 430 hectares of forest were already in flames during the day. In the evening, despite massive extinguishing operations, the burning area was reported to have spread to 470 hectares. The fire spread very quickly due to strong and often turning winds. The fire is predominantly ground fire. On this day, District Administrator Stefan Sternberg (SPD) declared the disaster . In the afternoon the inter-ministerial management staff (ImFüSt) was convened in the Schwerin state government .

The smoke created by the fire could be heard from a wide area. Because of the smoke development, the Northwest regional control center issued an official notification of danger for Potsdam, Brandenburg an der Havel and the districts of Barnim, Havelland, Oberhavel, Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Potsdam-Mittelmark and Prignitz to keep windows and doors closed. The pungent smell of the fire was noticeable on July 1st as far as Berlin, Leipzig, Chemnitz and Dresden. There were numerous calls to the fire department in all cities about the smoke.

2nd July

Thanks to the local population to the helpers

On the evening of July 2nd, the area of ​​the fire widened further; at that time it was given as 1200 ha. According to the district administrator, the threatened villages had been secured from the fire. According to the task force, the forces should now use heavy equipment to actively fight the fire. The Bundeswehr provided clearing and recovery tanks to cut aisles there and give firefighters safe access to the areas contaminated with ammunition. The number of fire-fighting helicopters used by the federal police and armed forces rose to eight that day; Police water cannons from all northern German states drove up. Extinguishing water was taken from the Schaalsee and the Probst Jesar forest pool . Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) visited the district's crisis team in the evening.

The fire was fought in four shifts, with around 750 people being deployed per shift.

3rd of July

From the early hours of the morning, armored recovery vehicles of the Bundeswehr cleared aisles in the forest. This enabled the fire brigade to move closer to the source of the fire. In the morning, according to District Administrator Stefan Sternberg (SPD), the emergency services had the fire “under control” and “completely encircled on all sides”.

root cause

Total precipitation Europe June 2019 (CPC-NWS-NOAA)

After the drought and heat in Europe in 2018 , the starting point was a rain deficit, which could not be compensated for by the slightly above-average rainfall in January and March 2019. The heat wave in Europe in June 2019 , together with insufficient precipitation, exacerbated the situation. The forest fire risk index of the German Weather Service rose to the highest level 5 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, among other places.

As three burns were found shortly after the fire broke out, arson was initially considered the most likely cause. After the investigation was completed, arson could be almost ruled out. Rather, a smaller fire on June 25, 2019, which could not be fully fought due to the ammunition contamination of the ground, spread again due to the persistent drought.

Reactions

On the second day of the fire, Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus ( SPD ) called for support from the federal government. “We need tactics and technology”, otherwise Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania would not be able to bring a fire of this magnitude under control. The federal government's responsibility for the future of its highly polluted property was also called for.

On August 27, 2019 by a joint decree of the Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and the Minister of the Interior and Europe Lorenz Caffier the Thank medal for helpers on the occasion of the forest fire in 2019 donated.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bundesforstbetrieb Trave is now monitoring the area: Forest fire follow-up care on the former military training area Lübenheen. In: press releases. Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks, accessed on July 20, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Forest fire spreads over 600 hectares - Bundeswehr supports fire fighting . In: Spiegel-Online , July 2, 2019, accessed on July 2, 2019.
  3. ↑ Heike Sommer: 85 years ago the forests were blazing on the Müritz. nordkurier.de, July 10, 2019, accessed on July 11, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Forest fire in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Was it arson? July 1, 2019, accessed on July 2, 2019 (German).
  5. ↑ Concepts for the future - development of the national natural heritage area of ​​Lübenheener Heide. March 29, 2019, accessed on July 8, 2019 (German).
  6. ^ Mdr.de: Forest fire in Lübenheen: State government calls for federal aid - billows of smoke to Dresden | MDR.DE. Retrieved July 2, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Forest fire in Mecklenburg leads to official notification of danger. Retrieved July 2, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b Forest fire out of control in Lübenheen - General calls for an attack . In: Ostseezeitung , July 2, 2019, accessed on July 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Forest fire in Lübenheen / Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In: forstpraxis.de. July 2, 2019, accessed on August 14, 2019 (German).
  10. ↑ t-online: News blog forest fire Lübenheen. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  11. ↑ District Administrator: "Have forest fire under control". In: ndr.de news. ndr.de, July 3, 2019, accessed on July 3, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Torben Meinert, Andreas Becker, Peter Bissolli, Jan Daßler, Jan Nicolas Breidenbach, Markus Ziese: Causes and consequences of drought in Germany and Europe from June 2019 (pdf) German Weather Service, July 12, 2019, accessed on July 20, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Frank Pfaff, Thomas Luczak: District Administrator: Forest fire in Lübenheen was probably set in three places. In: Ostsee-Zeitung.de. July 2, 2019, accessed July 20, 2019 .
  14. ^ Forest fire of Lübenheen probably caused by ammunition. Nordkurier, August 7, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Forest fire near Lübenheen: arson unlikely. NDR, August 7, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .
  16. ↑ NDR: Forest fire Lübenheen: More helicopters requested. Retrieved July 2, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Foundation of a thank you medal for helpers on the occasion of the forest fire in 2019 (joint foundation decree of the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior and Europe) . Retrieved October 7, 2019.

Coordinates: 53 ° 16 ′ 12 "  N , 11 ° 9 ′ 36"  E