Forest fire near Weißwasser in 1992
The forest fire disaster near Weißwasser in 1992 was a major fire south of the Saxon town of Weißwasser , in which 1,600 hectares of forest burned over three weeks in May / June 1992 .
Emergence
The exceptionally hot spring in May 1992, which had lasted for several weeks before, resulted in large parts of the East Saxon forests being severely dried out. For this reason, the forest fire warning level 4 had also been declared weeks earlier . On May 22, 1992 a heavy thunderstorm raged over the Lausitz . The forest fire was probably triggered by a lightning strike in the dry branches or in a field. Other speculations assumed that the Soviet army's ammunition leftovers could have ignited from the heat, but arson could not be ruled out either. The real cause has not yet been determined. On the evening of May 22, 1992, the forest fire appeared to be under control. However, the next day, May 23, 1992, the wind picked up noticeably. The sometimes strong gusts rekindled the embers. By around 10 a.m. on May 23rd, 5 hectares of forest were already in flames. On May 24, 1992, the forest fire also developed into a canopy fire. Driven by the strong wind, the fire rollers ate up to 500 meters of white water , the B 156 and the community of Mühlrose .
Fire fighting
Comrades from the fire brigade and their fire engines from all over the Free State of Saxony were involved in fighting the fire, as well as fire brigades from nearby Brandenburg and Baden-Württemberg and other federal states. On June 7, 1992, after 20 days, the fire was finally under control and the disaster alarm was lifted. The largest known forest fire in Saxon history to date destroyed around 1300 hectares of forest and meadow flora. Approx. 446 hectares were allocated to the Bad Muskau Forestry Office and 500 hectares to the Weißwasser Forestry Office. About 800 to 1000 (at times up to 2000) firefighters and members of the Federal Border Guard and the police were on duty to fight the fire itself . During the fire fighting, the Gablenz firefighter Thomas Jung, who had been on the road as a motorcycle detector on May 29, 1992 , was fatally injured when he was run over by a truck while rushing to the rescue. The street to the Weißwasser fire station has been called Thomas-Jung-Straße since 2004 . On the occasion and as a commemoration of this forest fire disaster, the commemorative medal was donated in July 1992 on the occasion of the forest fire disaster Weißwasser 1992 .
Fire-fighting teams deployed (selection)
- Winnenden volunteer fire brigade (partner town of Weißwasser)
- Wittichenau fire department
- Bärwalde opencast mine fire brigade
- Hoyerswerda fire department
- Niesky fire department
- Spremberg fire department
- Forest Fire Brigade (Lausitz)
- Dippoldiswalde fire department
- Fire brigade Krauschwitz / Ost
- Fire department Krauschwitz / West
- Bautzen fire department
- Niederneuschönberg fire department
- Professional fire department Dresden
- Großharthau fire brigade
- Eilenburg fire department
- Kubschütz fire department
- Police Saxony
- Gablenz fire department
Applied technology
- 52 fire trucks
- 49 fire engines
- Helicopters type CH-53 and Mi-8 of the Bundeswehr and agricultural aircraft for fighting fires from the air
- Water cannon 9000 and water cannon 4000 of the riot police Saxony
Footnotes
- ↑ The new fire department depot. In: Lausitzer Rundschau . June 10, 2006, accessed November 11, 2019 .