From Klimanachrichten

By KlimaNachrichten Editor

The topic of forest fires takes place regularly in this blog. You can actually set the clock according to it, whenever there is a fire, especially in Germany, then climate change is brought out. It gets really bad in summer, because it is more or less suggested that high temperatures set the forest on fire by themselves. Of course, this is complete nonsense. Even in midsummer, temperatures are not reached that mean spontaneous ignition.

Forests burn particularly well when there has been no precipitation for a long time. So it must be dry. And it burns when people are out and about in the forest who deliberately or negligently set it on fire. Natural sources are almost completely ruled out as a cause of fire in our country. There are almost always people involved, whatever the motives may be.

RBB has an interesting story about arson in the forests of Brandenburg. The state has to contend with an additional difficulty. There are numerous former military training areas there. Extinguishing work on ammunition-contaminated soil is life-threatening. While fires can be extinguished well in normal forests, this is not possible due to danger to life and limb if ammunition is lying around.

The really remarkable thing about this series of arsons in the Löwenburg region is not how it took place – but that it was solved. 

According to statistics from the State Forestry Office, there are indications that around 400 of about 1,800 forest fires have occurred in Brandenburg since 2019 that the fires were set intentionally. “On average, this proportion is around 20 to 25 percent of all forest fires per year,” explains Brandenburg’s forest fire protection officer Raimund Engel in an interview with rbb|24. In many cases, police investigations have been underway for years. 

It is likely that some arsons are not even included in the statistics as such, says Engel. “Only if there are concrete indications of arson do we state ‘suspicion of intent’.” Witness statements or suspicious objects that forensic technicians find at the scene of the escape can tip the scales. According to Engel, firefighters and forensic technicians have already found hairspray cans, matches or suspiciously placed barbecue lighters on the fire areas. Without such traces, the cases often disappear into the category of “unknown cause” – since 2019, 650 cases. 

According to the Brandenburg police, it is difficult to say how often it is possible to catch and charge arsonists in forests. Such information could not be queried individually, as arson in forests would not be recorded separately from other arsons, it said.