Forest fire near Ottweiler in the Saarland contained at 10 hectares, four firefighters injured

Fire breaks out near Ottweiler

Hundreds of emergency responders battled a forest fire near Ottweiler in the Landkreis Neunkirchen, Saarland, from Thursday afternoon. Firefighting and disaster-relief units from several districts were deployed. The Saarland Interior Ministry estimated that a maximum of roughly 10 hectares were affected. The operation was described as particularly taxing due to 33-degree-Celsius heat and heavy smoke development.

Containment and overnight stabilization

The fire department contained the fire on Thursday evening and prevented its spread, said Andreas Kuhn, spokesperson for the fire departments in Landkreis Neunkirchen, on Friday morning. The situation was stabilized overnight. Kuhn said remaining embers in the ground and in tree stumps must now be identified and extinguished. Drones are being deployed to build a picture of the situation and locate hidden hotspots.

Injuries and evacuations

Four emergency responders were injured and received medical treatment for smoke and heat exposure. As a precaution, a restaurant and a mobile home site were evacuated. Units from the Landkreis St. Wendel secured the sides of the fire adjacent to residential buildings, using their own water supply.

Ongoing operations

As of Friday morning, firefighting work continued. The focus shifted from active flame suppression to identifying and extinguishing residual embers embedded in the soil and tree stumps. Kuhn indicated that drones would play a central role in detecting hotspots that are not visible from the ground, allowing crews to target remaining fire nests precisely.