The matter was reported on their Facebook profile by volunteer firefighters from Raciborowice (Warta Bolesławiecka municipality). After 5:00 a.m., they were dispatched to a forest fire in Wierzbowa (Gromadka municipality). Several dozen firefighting units took part in the operation, including firefighters from outside our county.
Firefighters from Raciborowice:
About 30 minutes after returning from the forest fire in Wierzbowa, we went to an incident in Raciborowice, where a combine harvester caught fire during the grain harvest. As a result, the stubble also caught fire.
The quick reaction of the workers in the field, along with the availability of fire extinguishers and water, meant that the fire did not spread and the combine harvester was not engulfed in flames.
Warning! It is very dry and hot again. Firefighters appeal: if we are out for a walk, for example in a forest, let us be careful not to accidentally start a fire.
Let us recall. Last year, nearly 126,000 fires occurred in Poland, of which as many as 38,000 were grass fires in meadows and agricultural wasteland, mostly caused by burning grass.
That is why the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, together with the State Fire Service, launched the “Stop grass fires” campaign. The information campaign aims to raise awareness of how harmful burning grass is to the environment, as it causes hundreds of thousands of fires in which people lose the achievements of their entire lives and sometimes even die.
This year, the State Fire Service has already recorded 38,634 grass fires, in which two people died and 101 were injured. Last year, fires of this type were also the direct cause of two deaths—in 2011, there were as many as sixteen victims. Fires in wasteland, due to their nature and usually large size, involve a significant number of firefighting personnel and resources. Every intervention is a considerable financial expense. The losses caused by grass fires in 2017 were estimated at more than PLN 10 million.
Every year, firefighters combat the practice of burning grass. Most incidents of this type occur in March and April. In 2017 alone, 266,000 firefighters were dispatched to extinguish grass fires. The “Stop grass fires” information campaign aims to raise public awareness of the negative effects of burning grass. On the specially prepared website www.stoppozaromtraw.pl, you can find, among other things, statistics on the harmfulness of grass burning, as well as the negative consequences of such incidents.
It should be remembered that after winter, grass is dry and burns very quickly. According to information from the fire service, a fire can spread at more than 20 km/h (for comparison, a fast run is nearly 19 km/h, while fast cycling is about 30 km/h). Wind also helps the fire spread. It is impossible to control the blaze and the extent and direction of grass burning on one’s own—fires very often spread to nearby forests and buildings at an extremely rapid pace. People are responsible for more than 94% of the causes of this type of fire.