The incident occurred on Monday, March 4, before 2:00 p.m., in Raciborowice Górne (Warta Bolesławiecka municipality).
As we read on the Facebook profile of the volunteer firefighters from Raciborowice:
Upon arriving at the scene, it turned out that rubbish, grass and peatland were burning over an area of approximately 50 ares.
The uniformed officers add:
We were already there last year.
The fire was extinguished. In addition to the firefighters from Raciborowice, firefighters from Warta Bolesławiecka also took part in the operation.
Every year, firefighters combat grass burning. Most incidents of this kind occur in March and April. In Poland, 149,434 fires were recorded in 2018, including 48,767 grass fires in meadows and agricultural wastelands, accounting for approximately 33% of all fires in Poland.
The Ministry of the Interior and Administration’s “Stop Grass Fires” information campaign aims to raise public awareness of the negative effects of grass burning. On the specially prepared website www.stoppozaromtraw.pl, users can find, among other things, statistics on the harmfulness of grass burning, as well as the negative effects of such incidents.
It should be remembered that after winter, grass is dry and catches fire very quickly. According to information from the fire service, 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 approximately 30 km/h).
Wind also helps the fire spread. It is impossible to control the blaze independently or control the extent and direction of grass burning—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.
Importantly, people repeatedly lose everything they have in such fires. There is also a direct threat to the health and lives of people and animals.
Moreover, meadow and forest fires cause enormous material losses. The achievements of many generations often go up in smoke. Estimated losses resulting from grass fires that occurred in 2018 amounted to 32,956,500 zlotys. The average duration of a grass-fire firefighting operation is 52 minutes.
In 2018, firefighters went out to grass and agricultural-wasteland fires on average every 10 minutes.
What are the penalties for burning grass?
Grass burning is punishable by law. The ban on grass burning is set out in the following legal acts:
- The Act of April 16, 2004 on Nature Protection (Journal of Laws 2018, item 142):
- Article 131(12): “It is prohibited to burn meadows, pastures, wastelands, ditches, roadside strips, railway lines, reed beds and marshes”
- Article 131: “Anyone who burns meadows, pastures, wastelands, ditches, roadside strips, railway lines, reed beds or marshes is subject to arrest or a fine”
- The Act of September 28, 1991 on Forests (Journal of Laws 2017, item 788):
- Article 30(3)(3): “in forests and forest areas, as well as within 100 meters of the forest boundary, activities and actions that may cause danger are prohibited, in particular: lighting fires outside places designated for this purpose by the forest owner or forest superintendent, using an open flame, burning the topsoil and plant residue”
Serious penalties apply to offenses of this kind:
- Article 82 of the Act of May 20, 1971, Code of Petty Offenses (Journal of Laws 2018, item 618):
- arrest, a reprimand or a fine which, pursuant to Article 24 § 1, may range from 20 to 5,000 zlotys
- Article 163 § 1 of the Act of June 6, 1997, Criminal Code (Journal of Laws 1997, No. 88, item 553, as amended): “Anyone who causes an incident that endangers the life or health of many people or property on a large scale, taking the form of a fire, is subject to imprisonment for between one and 10 years.”