Wildfire in Karlsruhe: Fire brigade fights rapid inferno!

Wildfire in Karlsruhe: Fire brigade fights rapid inferno!

On Tuesday afternoon, exactly at 5:30 p.m., the Karlsruhe fire department was called to a wildfire at the Reitschulschlag tram stop in Karlsruhe. The fire, which spread to around 1,000 m² of vegetation and two garden sheds, posed a serious problem. The fire department was on site after just ten minutes and mobilized both its professional fire department and the volunteer units from the Hagsfeld fire department and forest fire units from Bulach and Grötzingen. A total of around 40 emergency services were deployed to put a stop to the flames. According to wochenblatt-reporter.de, the fire was quickly controlled on two flanks using a targeted extinguishing strategy.

The water supply posed a challenge during the operation as two hose lines had to be laid across the tracks. This required a temporary closure of the tram route. The only bright spot: additional forces secured the water supply via a second access route to a large fire-fighting water tank. The fire brigade worked efficiently and was able to prevent the fire from spreading further through quick and coordinated intervention. During the extinguishing work, the fire brigade pointed out that the dry vegetation allowed the fire to grow particularly quickly, which made it difficult to fight.

Overall risk of forest and wildfires

The incident in Karlsruhe once again shows the ongoing danger of wildfires. This is particularly clear because, according to initial findings, the fire broke out between Landesstraße 560 and Kösliner Straße and quickly spread to adjacent meadows and the forest. Dense smoke was visible even from several kilometers away, as reported by satzreport24.de. The fire brigade therefore appeals to the population to avoid smoking and open fires outdoors, especially in times of dry weather conditions. The statistics for 2023 have already recorded several forest fires in which over 1,240 hectares of forest area were lost, a tragic outcome that can unfortunately also be reflected in our own environment.

Chemical influences, human error and natural causes are often responsible for the start of fires. The fire department and experts warn against treating fire carelessly. For example, discarded cigarettes, hot vehicle catalytic converters and careless grilling can trigger such disasters. According to information on brand-feuer.de, it can be said that a total of 1,059 fires were registered in 2023, which underlines the need to take preventative measures: This includes avoiding open fires in nature and heeding warnings issued by the responsible authorities.

According to the emergency services, intensive extinguishing work meant that the fire was brought under control relatively quickly without any injuries being reported. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated by the police, while the fire department had to ensure that embers and possible re-ignitions were completely eliminated.