Saturday was the hottest day of the year in the country so far, with a high risk of fire declared. Credit: Freepik.
Prague, July 17 (CTK) – More than two-thirds of the 168 fires recorded in the Czech Republic on Saturday broke out in the open air, in forests and fields, Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman Martina Gotzova told CTK yesterday. Their total number, 116, was more than three times higher than the long-term average.
In 2022, about a third of the total number of fires in the Czech Republic were in the open air.
Saturday was the hottest day of the year in the country so far, with a high risk of fire declared.
Yesterday, the situation was calmer, probably also thanks to the cooling temperatures after the morning rain, and the number of fires was in line with the long-term average.
“Sunday was significantly quieter – 52 fires, 25 of which were in the open air,” the Fire and Rescue Service said on Twitter.
Various forests, grasslands, meadows, and fields were on fire on Saturday, Gotzova said, outlining the locations of the firefighters’ interventions.
“We have 50 fires reported on this date over a five-year average,” she added.
Fires in the wild kept firefighters busy over the weekend. Forests in Pisek (south Bohemia) and Sokolov (west Bohemia) were burning overnight, though the morning rain helped firefighters put them out.
Near Jetetice in Pisek, the fire hit about 40 hectares of forest. Firefighters got the fire under control on Sunday, and stopped it spreading. Three helicopters were called in to extinguish it.
On Saturday, a number of fires also broke out during field work at several places.
Yearly statistics on fires in the wild published by Gotz’s suggest that they are becoming a larger share of the total. Of 20,813 fires recorded in 2022, 6,816 were in the open air, almost one-third. The year before, 16,162 fires were recorded, of which 3,588 were in the open air, less than a quarter of the total.
Last year, firefighters used aerial technology in 23 forest fires, including the intervention in the largest single fire, which broke out in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in North Bohemia on 24 July 2022, hitting 1,060 hectares.
