Forest fire on the Arikogel in Ebensee: around 80 emergency personnel battle blaze in difficult-to-access terrain

According to initial findings, an area of around 30 square meters is affected by the fire so far. However, this lies in a difficult-to-access alpine area, which makes fighting the blaze significantly more difficult. The incident command therefore spoke of a particularly challenging situation for the crews that had responded.

Difficult terrain at 1000 meters

According to the district fire command, around 80 personnel are deployed. Involved are forces from the fire department, mountain rescue and police. The mountain rescue secured the extinguishing crews in the steep terrain, it was said in a press release.

In addition, around 20 vehicles were on site, including, according to the emergency personnel, a kerosene trailer for refueling the fire engines. The logistical supply is a challenge in itself due to the altitude and the access roads, a spokesperson told the incident command.

The extinguishing work continued on Tuesday morning. There was initially no information available on possible causes of the fire or the amount of property damage. As of now, no one was injured.

Deployment with around 20 vehicles

The Arikogel is located in the Salzkammergut, above Lake Traunsee. Forest fires in alpine locations are not uncommon for emergency personnel in Upper Austria, but are considered particularly labor-intensive due to the poor accessibility. Equipment and water often have to be brought to the fire sites by cable car or manually.

The weather also plays a role. With dry vegetation and wind, an initially small fire can spread in a short time. The incident command did not want to give the all-clear in the morning and was closely monitoring the situation.

Situation still open

Residents were asked as a precaution to avoid paths in the affected slope areas. Police closed parts of the access roads to through traffic so as not to impede the emergency vehicles.

How long the operation will continue was initially open. The intention was to carefully extinguish the smoldering hotspots to prevent re-ignition, it was said from the district fire command. Further information was to follow during the course of Tuesday afternoon.