News summary: Severe fires raged in Saxony-Anhalt over the weekend. Hundreds of hectares of rapeseed and grain have fallen victim to the flames.

One of the biggest summer fires of the past few days ignited on Saturday near Mücheln in the Saalekreis. There, about 220 hectares were burned with rapeseed and grain. The extinguishing work took two days. Again and again, the fire flared up.

Field fire out of control: Agricultural company helps the fire brigade

At 2.30 p.m., the Mücheln fire brigade was alerted to a medium field fire, which a short time later developed into a major blaze. The reason for this was that the fire got out of control due to the wind. All the weirs from the surrounding area rushed in. The fire quickly spread towards a housing estate. Fortunately, it could be stopped shortly before it reached there.

The local agricultural company also provided help with water tanks and cultivators to set up a fire path and prevent the spread, the comrades explain.

Despite the quick measures, a total of four fields were affected and partly completely destroyed. The overhead line/airline was also damaged. The high-voltage line was then switched off for safety reasons. As a result, there were power outages in the vicinity. The high temperatures around 37°C also bothered the emergency services.

One day later, there was another outbreak of the fire in Mücheln. The wind would repeatedly expose ember nests on the 220-hectare fire area, and the fire would flare up again and again, according to a spokesman for the fire brigade. There were also smoke developments time and again. The local fire brigade had to move out repeatedly to extinguish new small fires.

In total, about 150 emergency forces were on duty on Saturday alone, according to the dpa. During the extinguishing work, a tractor that was supposed to transport 7,000 liters of water to the fire site had tipped over. Fortunately, the driver remained unharmed.

Near Möckern in the district of Jerichower Land, an estimated 80 to 120 hectares of forest and field burned down. Between Rödgen and Zörbig in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, a wheat field was on fire on Saturday. Emergency services were able to prevent the fire there from spreading to wind turbines. The fire here decimated 150 to 200 hectares. The resulting property damage is estimated at 150,000 euros, according to the police.

Source: Agrarheute.com