Sachsenforst warns of high risk of forest fires at the weekend

The state enterprise Sachsenforst warns of a high risk of forest fires in large parts of Saxony at the weekend. According to current forecasts, level four will be reached on the Saxon-Brandenburg state border on Saturday. The highest danger level five is expected to be reached on Sunday in the northern parts of the districts of North Saxony, Meißen, Bautzen and Görlitz as well as the city of Dresden. Levels three and four are forecast for the rest of the state.

Forest visitors are therefore called upon to be particularly vigilant. "Humans are the main cause of forest fires. Last year, around three quarters of all forest fires were started by humans," said State Forestry President Utz Hempfling according to the press release. "Avoiding risky behavior and quickly reporting discovered fires to the fire departments is therefore the best way to prevent large forest fires with their dramatic effects on the ecosystem."

According to Sachsenforst, the reason for the high risk of forest fires is the low rainfall and the high temperatures in some places, combined with wind over the past few days, which have contributed to a strong drying out of the upper soil layers.