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Forest fire in Thale: emergency services knock down flames!
On July 2, 2025, around 200 firefighters fought a forest fire near Thale in the Harz Mountains. Major operation with firefighting aircraft, fire only partially extinguished.
Forest fire in Thale: emergency services knock down flames!
On the evening of July 2, 2025, there was a significant forest fire in Thale in the Harz district, which presented the emergency services with a major challenge. Loud az-online.de The fire was largely extinguished around 9 p.m., but follow-up work on an area of around 600 square meters continued into the night.
The fire, which covered an area of almost 2,000 square meters, required around 150 firefighters from Thale and the surrounding region to intervene. The operation was particularly challenging at Tannenkopf, where access was extremely difficult due to the steep terrain. Modern technologies such as a drone and a fire-fighting aircraft from the Harz district were also used to deal with the situation.
Emergency forces and technology in constant use
On Tuesday evening, almost 200 firefighters were active to fight and contain the fire in five sections. Loud MDR The fire broke out on a steep slope with a lot of dead wood, which made extinguishing work even more difficult. The fire-fighting plane, which dropped water every 20 minutes, was filled with fire-fighting water by 30 emergency services in Hasselfelde before its last mission at 8:45 p.m.
The emergency services were hopeful that the fire would be completely extinguished by Wednesday evening. However, smaller pockets of embers that flared up in various places made the clean-up work more difficult. On Wednesday night, employees of the State Forestry Office kept fire watch to prevent the fire from flaring up again.
Forest fire danger levels and other impacts
In addition to the acute danger situation, it should be noted that the second highest forest fire danger level (level 4) applies in Saxony-Anhalt. This is indicated not only by the current situation in Thale, but also by the highest danger level in the Wittenberg district. A warning about heavy smoke was issued via the Nina warning app, which encouraged residents to be careful.
For the Harz narrow-gauge railway, fighting the fire meant a change in the transport offering: on some routes, diesel trains were used instead of the usual steam trains in order to continue operations.
The experience gained from this operation is valuable for future firefighting, especially in times when the risk of forest fires is constantly increasing. The dedicated emergency services and modern technology are a key to getting such natural disasters under control and ensuring the safety of the population.