Forest fire erupts in Chiemgau Alps near Unterwössen, hundreds of firefighters deployed as blaze spreads towards valley

A forest fire broke out in the Chiemgau Alps on the evening of 29 July, igniting a large-scale emergency response. Firefighters have worked through the night to stop flames spreading from the summit ridge towards the village of Oberwössen, a district of Unterwössen.

Fire breaks out on steep summit

Shortly before 18:00 on Wednesday, the Oberwössen volunteer fire brigade and numerous surrounding units were alerted to a forest fire on the Hochwand near the Lackenbergwand. The fire was in an inaccessible summit area at roughly 1,000 metres altitude, and a clearly visible column of smoke was already rising when the alarm was raised. Hubert Hobmaier of the Traunstein district fire service association said on Thursday morning that reliable figures on the size of the affected area were not yet available, and the cause of the fire remained unknown. No one has been injured, according to the current status.

Emergency response and challenges

Around 200 personnel from fire brigades, mountain rescue, ambulance services and police were initially deployed. Because vehicles could not reach the fire at the summit, ground crews concentrated on building large sprinkler systems in the terrain below. “Long hose lines were laid last evening and during the night, and so-called circle sprinklers were set up every few metres,” Hobmaier told the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

You can imagine it like a big garden sprinkler. The area not affected by the fire is watered in order to prevent the fire from spreading further.

A shuttle service of water tankers was set up, and three Bavarian police helicopters resumed water drops with external buckets at daybreak.

Spread towards Oberwössen

The fire expanded during the night, moving downhill in the direction of Oberwössen. To protect houses on the edge of the fire zone, firefighters installed extensive hose networks and the rotating sprinklers. Hobmaier explained that the sprinkler system created a wet buffer between the approaching flames and residential areas.

Echoes of May’s Saurüsselkopf fire

The conditions when the fire started were similar to those at the Saurüsselkopf blaze near Ruhpolding in early May, according to a fire service spokesperson. That fire also began in difficult summit terrain, spread rapidly and took a month to extinguish completely. The current fire is burning twelve weeks after that event, roughly three months, but authorities cautioned that it is too early to compare the scale.

Public warnings and safety measures

Thick smoke prompted the Traunstein district to issue a hazard alert via the modular warning system (MoWaS) early on Thursday. Residents across the entire district were asked to keep windows and doors closed, switch off ventilation and air conditioning systems, and avoid the area around the deployment site. No injuries have been reported, and emergency crews continued to work at the scene throughout the morning.