22 hectares of woodland and meadows ablaze: rally car triggers major fire

As reported by the daily newspaper St. Wendler Nachrichten, the major fire broke out at around midday on Thursday between the municipalities of Reichenbach and Kronweiler near Baumholder in the Birkenfeld district of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Strong, constantly shifting winds drove the flames in various directions and repeatedly fanned the fire. Due to the rapid spread, alert level 4 was eventually triggered. Consequently, the Birkenfeld district, under the overall leadership of District Administrator Miroslaw Kowalski, took charge of the operation.

Around 220 emergency personnel were deployed to fight the flames. In addition to the fire services from the Birkenfeld district, crews also arrived from the districts of Bad Kreuznach, Kusel and the Saarland district of St. Wendel. Furthermore, the German Armed Forces from Baumholder, the US fire service in Baumholder and specialists from the organisation @Fire Deutschland supported the operation.

From the air, three fire-fighting helicopters continuously dropped water onto the sources of the fire. On the ground, the emergency services deployed several bulldozers and a Bundeswehr tank to create firebreaks. In addition, a water cannon from the Rhineland-Palatinate police, equipped with a 10,000-litre water tank, was brought into action.

Numerous farmers from the district also made a significant contribution. They transported large quantities of water to the hard-to-reach terrain using slurry tankers, thereby ensuring the emergency services’ water supply.

The steep terrain, with slopes that were difficult to reach, made the fire-fighting operations considerably more difficult. Repeated gusts of wind caused smouldering embers to flare up again. The incident command assumes that their work will continue for several more days.

According to the Birkenfeld district administration, the driver of the rally car had been driving along a dirt track near Reichenbach when a technical fault occurred. It appears that no permission had been obtained for the test drive.

However, the tarmac-surfaced track is only authorised for use by agricultural vehicles. The driver should have applied for permission from the Reichenbach local council for the test drive.

Südwestrundfunk (SWR) reports that, just over a month ago, the mayor was asked by an acquaintance of the driver whether it would be possible to use the track for test drives. He said that, in principle, he had no objection, as professional athletes had often practised there in the past.

However, his condition would have been that safety measures were in place. The district administration and the fire brigade would have had to be involved. Track marshals would also have been necessary. Furthermore, barriers around the dirt track would have been a prerequisite.

Instead, the driver hadn’t even given any notice. The mayor also said he hadn’t expected anyone to even think of attempting a test drive in such weather conditions.

Around 70 kilometres from Reichenbach, the ADAC Mittelrhein Rally is taking place this weekend in the Moselle-Eifel region as a round of the German Rally Championship, with the service centre in Wittlich operating as planned.