Glowing rootstock

Forest fire challenges the emergency services

(Bild: Johanna Birbaumer)

The emergency services in Mölltal fought a forest fire from Thursday afternoon until Friday afternoon. Smoke was detected again early on Saturday morning - and extinguished again.

Since Thursday afternoon, the fire departments from the Möll Valley have been fighting a forest fire. A witness noticed the fire in Lamnitztal in Rangersdorf and immediately raised the alarm.

The fire was probably started by a lightning strike, according to a reconnaissance flight by police helicopter. An attempt was made to extinguish the fire by dropping the dragonfly. "Fire out" was announced at 3 p.m. on Friday. The Rangersdorf fire brigade will continue to monitor the affected area.

Smoke again on the third day
On Saturday at 8.35 a.m., witnesses again reported smoke in the Lamnitztal area - again in the affected forest area. During a reconnaissance flight by the Libelle Kärnten police helicopter, no smoke could be detected.

The Rangersdorf fire brigade, who entered the area on foot, were able to localize a smoldering rootstock as the cause. The helicopter flew additional material such as stakes, firefighting backpacks and more into the fire area.

Once the rootstock fire had been extinguished, the entire area of around 500^m2 was also searched by hand by the firefighters and checked using a thermal imaging camera. No other glowing spots were found.

The Rangersdorf fire brigade will continue to monitor the affected area.