Drought drives rise in Burgenland forest and field fires

Three fires broke out in Burgenland on Thursday as dry conditions put increasing stress on forests, ORF reported. Firefighters responded to field fires near Zemendorf in Mattersburg district and Piringsdorf in Oberpullendorf district, as well as a forest fire in St. Margarethen in Eisenstadt-Umgebung district.

The forest fire in St. Margarethen started at about 7 p.m. A section of the St. Margarethen fire service was also providing fire safety cover at an opera in a quarry, so additional support was requested. In total, 70 firefighters from St. Margarethen, Mörbisch and Siegendorf took part in the operation.

Rapid, coordinated action and favourable conditions with little wind prevented the fire from spreading. The blaze, which covered about 500 square metres, was quickly extinguished.

Fire services in Mattersburg and Oberpullendorf districts had already been called out to field fires on Thursday afternoon. Several fire services were involved in both incidents.

The Federal Research Centre for Forests said persistent heat and low rainfall, particularly in eastern Austria, were causing critical soil moisture levels and increasing drought stress in forests. Ernst Leitgeb, head of the centre’s Institute of Forest Ecology and Soil, said conditions were particularly serious at the forest monitoring site in Unterpullendorf in Burgenland. Only 18 millimetres of rain fell there during the unusually hot period in July, causing the already dry soil to dry out further.

Current measurements show that none of the centre’s monitoring sites currently has normal soil moisture levels, the centre said.