Despite increased efforts by the fire brigade, the forest fire in the Czech National Park Bohemian Switzerland has continued to spread over an area of around 1000 hectares. “Because of the challenging terrain, the work is progressing relatively slowly,” said a spokeswoman for the emergency services on Sunday on CT public television.
According to this, around 750 firefighters were deployed. On Saturday, 220 additional forces were pulled together from all over the Czech Republic, as a spokesman said. The number of firefighters in the operation has increased to more than 650.
New embers are constantly being discovered. The Bohemian Switzerland National Park with its rocky landscape borders on Saxon Switzerland, where there are also fires. “We will actively go into the embers, pour water over them and dig up the ground,” said fire department spokesman Lukas Marvan on Czech television in the evening.
Six helicopters and five fire-fighting aircraft were deployed after the morning fog had cleared. So far, eight emergency services have been injured on the Czech side, several of them seriously.
Parts of the forest area are difficult to access – including areas on the German-Czech border and the so-called deep valley.
Access to large parts of the national park area has now been banned to keep onlookers away. The police stopped three hikers near the Prebischtor. The rock gate made of sandstone is considered the symbol of the national park.
A firefighter was hit and seriously injured by a falling tree on Saturday afternoon near the Prebischtor, which is considered a landmark of the national park. He was taken to the hospital by helicopter.
Another man suffered a serious allergic reaction to bee and wasp stings, and another seriously injured his leg.