Forest fire at Lake Chiemsee: A8 closed between Übersee and Bernau

Smoke and reduced visibility

Due to the rising smoke, there were visibility impairments on the surrounding roads, as a police spokesperson reported: „Durch den aufsteigenden Rauch komme es zu Sichtbehinderungen, sagte ein Polizeisprecher.“ The fire department warned the population and asked people to keep windows and doors closed to keep the smoke out of their homes.

The nearby A8 (Salzburg – Munich) was completely closed. How long the motorway closure between Übersee and Bernau will last was initially unclear. A police spokesperson stated: „Das hänge vor allem von der Windrichtung und der Geschwindigkeit der Löscharbeiten ab, so der Sprecher weiter.“ The duration of the closure therefore depends directly on the course of the fire.

Impact on travel

The effects on travel between Salzburg and Munich were immediately noticeable on Monday morning. On the closed A8, traffic jams quickly built up in both directions early on Monday, the ÖAMTC reported. A spokesperson for the mobility club spoke of „massiven Staus“ and recommended that travellers „rechtzeitig und großräumig auszuweichen“.

According to the ÖAMTC, the diversion route was also already overloaded. Since there were also already traffic jams on the diversion route, relief for travellers was hardly possible for the time being. According to the map service Google Maps, longer traffic jams formed in the morning on both sides of the closure and continued on the alternative routes.

Operation between Übersee and Bernau

According to the fire department, the operation is concentrated on the area near the fire between Übersee and Bernau on Lake Chiemsee. The flames are engulfing both forest areas and adjacent moorland, which makes firefighting more difficult due to the peat-rich ground. As a police spokesperson explained, the rising smoke is causing reduced visibility on the access roads.

The authorities asked road users to detour around the area over a wide radius and, if possible, to refrain from travelling in this region for as long as the closure remains in place. Residents were urged to keep windows and doors closed and to stay up to date via official warning messages.

The police announced that they would provide updates during the day on the further progress of the firefighting operations and the associated duration of the full closure of the A8. Until then, the stretch between Übersee and Bernau remains closed to all traffic, it was said.