It was the worst forest fire in the history of the Czech Republic. A fire broke out in Bohemian Switzerland on the night of July 24 last year. 6000 firefighters were involved in the extinguishing work, which could only be completed after several weeks.
A year later, nature is about to recover. And people ask themselves how similar catastrophes can be prevented in the future.
On Tuesday, Czech Environment Minister Petr Hladík visited the forest fire area from last year. At a press conference he said:
“We have strengthened the national park administration in terms of personnel. There are three new employees: two wardens and also a specialist in fire fighting and prevention.”
Petr Hladík|Photo: Martina Schneibergová, Radio Prague International
The national park guards will take up their new posts from August. In recent months, three water tanks have also been set up in an area that is difficult to access in Bohemian Switzerland. Each of them contains 50,000 liters of extinguishing water. As a further safety precaution, wood that has been attacked by bark beetles and is therefore particularly flammable is quickly removed.
According to National Park Director Petr Kříž, there should also be regular patrols by employees:
“We are currently on patrol again and again. This is not only done by the national park wardens, but also by other colleagues. To do this, they go to a place with a view in the morning and in the evening and search the area with binoculars.”
One of the eight national park wardens is Miroslav Rybář. In an interview with the ČTK press agency, he criticized the fact that office workers are now also being tasked with preventing fires. More staff are simply needed for the patrols, according to Rybář, who also points to the significantly higher number of fire guards in the neighboring Saxon Switzerland National Park. According to him, 26 full-time and up to 100 volunteer guards are employed there.
Criticism also came from Vladimír Vlček, the general director of the Czech fire brigade on Tuesday. Regarding the need to catch up in the early detection of fires, he said in the domestic broadcasts of Czech Radio:
Vladimír Vlček|Photo: HZS of the Moravian-Silesian Region
“Fire guards who search the area on observation towers with binoculars are by no means sufficient. One should also consider technical solutions. It doesn’t always have to be drones. Systems such as Firewatch or similar approaches, which are used in Slovakia, for example, can be just as helpful.”
Observation towers and transmission masts are equipped with camera systems that automatically sound the alarm if smoke develops. An employee of the control center can then decide to send a unit to the alleged fire area.
In the event of a fire, the Czech Republic appears to be better prepared after last year’s catastrophe, at least to some extent. From July to mid-September, the country borrowed two Blackhawk fire-fighting helicopters as a preventive measure. These should be used quickly in the event of a potential fire and help to fight the flames from the air.
2023-07-19 12:49:11
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