As we read on the website of the Volunteer Fire Service in Raciborowice (Warta Bolesławiecka municipality):
On Thursday, 2 August, at around 8:30 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a fire involving a pile of straw and stubble in Raciborowice Górne.
Firefighters from Bolesławiec, Raciborowice, Warta Bolesławiecka and Jurków took part in the operation.
Warning! It is very dry and hot again. Firefighters appeal to everyone: 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 the burning of 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 grass burning is to the environment; it causes hundreds of thousands of fires in which people lose the work of their entire lives and may even die.
By April this year, the State Fire Service had 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 significant numbers of firefighting personnel and resources. Every intervention entails considerable financial expenditure. 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 harmful effects 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 fire service information, a fire can spread at a speed of more than 20 km/h (for comparison, fast running is nearly 19 km/h, while fast cycling is around 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.