Since June 1, firefighters across Hungary have been called to 5,040 outdoor fires. Following a summer marked by often extreme heatwaves, the fires have affected a total area of 73 million square metres, Imre Dóka, deputy spokesperson for the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, told MTI on Tuesday.
A total of 11,842 pieces of firefighting equipment were needed to contain the flames, meaning that nearly three fire engines were required on average for each fire.
Fire investigations were launched in 52 cases involving outdoor fires this summer.
Since the beginning of the year, 77 people have been injured in stubble and forest fires, while three people have died, Dóka said.
The deputy spokesperson explained that drought and prolonged heat have led to a particularly sharp increase in large-scale outdoor and forest fires in August. During the first two weeks of the month, 1,600 such fires were recorded, accounting for 14.5 percent of all outdoor fires so far this year and an average of 100 emergency calls per day.
Particularly concerning is the fact that three people have died in outdoor fires at three locations in August, in Bács-Kiskun, Baranya and Komárom-Esztergom counties, after the fires spread to weekend houses, Dóka said.
He highlighted that on August 16, flames also spread to the roof structure of a kindergarten in Hejőpapi, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, destroying the entire roof of the 800-square-metre building. In Szeged-Algyő, an outdoor fire that broke out near Route 47 spread to a car dealership. In Veszprém County, between Sóly and Öskü, as well as in the outskirts of Dédestapolcsány in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungarian Defence Forces helicopters had to be deployed to help contain stubble and forest fires.
Dóka also reported that firefighters have been called to 10,770 outdoor fires so far this year, affecting an area of nearly 12,000 hectares, equivalent to around 16,000 full-sized football pitches.
The highest number of emergency calls – more than 1,900 – related to outdoor fires came from Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. Numerous fires were also reported in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Pest and Bács-Kiskun counties. The fewest interventions, 126 in total, were recorded in Vas County, he said.
The deputy spokesperson warned that most outdoor fires are caused by human error or negligence, while a nationwide fire ban has been in effect for two months.
During the fire ban, it is prohibited to light fires in forests, wooded areas and within 200 metres of them, even at designated fire pits. Burning garden waste is permitted only if authorised by a local government decree and only during the periods specified by the decree.
If no such local regulation exists, burning garden waste in gardens is prohibited. Although the fire ban does not apply to cooking over a fire, grilling or cooking in a cauldron in private gardens, such fires must never be left unattended, Dóka stressed.
(MTI)
