On Saturday afternoon, a forest fire broke out in the Niechanowo commune (Wielkopolska Province). Around 25 hectares of forest burned down. In the evening, firefighters managed to control the fire, but the extinguishing operation is still ongoing, and three Dromader firefighting planes were also used. The Regional Directorate of State Forests in Poznań reported that the fire mainly consumed trees planted several years ago in the place of forests destroyed by the 2017 storm.
Firefighters were alerted around 1 p.m.
– After 1 p.m., the control center of the District Commander of the State Fire Service in Gniezno received information about a forest fire between the towns of Żydowo and Cielimowo. Initially, six teams were dispatched to the scene, but unfortunately the fire was spreading – informed junior brigadier Łukasz Michalak, deputy district commander of the State Fire Service in Gniezno, at about 6 p.m.
About 25 hectares of forest burned down
Section Kamila Kozłowska from the press team of the Gniezno State Fire Service said after 9 p.m. that firefighters had brought the fire under control and that the extinguishing operation would continue for the next few hours. According to estimates by firefighters and foresters, the fire consumed about 25 hectares of forest.
At approximately 9 p.m., normal traffic was restored on national road No. 15 in the area where the fire occurred and which had previously been blocked for this reason.
A fire in many hectares of forest near GnieznoTVN24
In 2017 a storm, now a fire
The Regional Directorate of State Forests in Poznań issued a statement on the fire. It stated that over 20 hectares had burned down. It indicated that this was “the largest fire in recent years” in the Poznań Directorate of State Forests, although – as it added – “it is still far from the famous fires of the Noteć Forest or Kuźnia Raciborska, where several thousand hectares were burned down”.
It was also reported that the element mainly consumed trees planted several years ago in the place of forests destroyed by the 2017 storm. At the culmination of the firefighting operation, about 80 firefighters from 20 fire brigades from the Gniezno and Września counties, as well as from the Poznań provincial headquarters, participated in it. The rescuers were supported by three Dromader firefighting planes.
As a result of the fire, no one was injured and the fire did not damage any buildings.
The fire has already consumed several hectares of forestTVN24
Main image source: TVN24