The incident occurred on Thursday, September 20, at the training ground in Świętoszów. The Military Fire Service began the first operations. When it became clear that the military firefighters could not handle the fire on their own, personnel from the County Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec and volunteer fire services from our county were dispatched to the scene.
(The photographs come from the Facebook profiles of OSP Ławszowa, OSP Nowogrodziec and OSP Osiecznica.)
It turned out at the scene that heathland was burning; forested areas were at risk. It was dry and windy, so the fire spread quickly.
Firefighters from the following counties joined the operation: Zgorzelec, Lwówek, Lubań, Jelenia Góra, Złotoryja, Legnica and Polkowice, as well as from Lubusz Voivodeship: Żary, Żagań and Szprotawa.
At the height of the fire, more than 50 fire service units attempted to bring it under control. More than 160 people took part in the operation.
As mł. bryg. Andrzej Śliwowski, head of the County Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Bolesławiec, told us, the fire covered an area of more than 200 hectares.
At around 5:00 p.m., the situation was already under control. Mopping-up operations continued until 7:00 a.m. on Friday. However, since there are hard-to-reach areas at the training ground that also need to be secured, the fire service operation is expected to continue for approximately another 24 hours.
The Military Fire Service is determining the cause of the incident.