High risk of forest fires in Upper Franconia
The government of Upper Franconia has announced:
The dry weather continues and with it the high risk of forest fires. Therefore, the government of Upper Franconia, in agreement with the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry Bayreuth-Münchberg
from Saturday, 5 July 2025,
until Sunday, 6 July 2025,
will once again be organising aerial observation flights as a preventive forest fire fighting measure for the entire administrative district of Upper Franconia. The flights will take place in the afternoon, when the risk of forest fires is particularly high due to rising temperatures and the leisure activities of the population.
In Upper Franconia, the flights take off from the air observation centres in Bayreuth-Bindlach and Bamberg-Breitenau for two monitoring areas (Upper Franconia East and Upper Franconia West). Pilots from Luftrettungsstaffel Bayern e.V. are used for the flights, supported by specially trained aerial observers. The flight routes include the largest forest areas.
The government of Upper Franconia continues to ask people to exercise extreme caution in the forests and not to handle open fires or smoke under any circumstances. Anyone who discovers a forest fire should report it immediately to the fire brigade by dialling 112.
Further information on forest fire monitoring and the organisation of aerial observation can be found on the website of the Government of Upper Franconia under Forest fire monitoring; Information on the organisation of aerial observation - Government of Upper Franconia.
Forest fire in Thuringia leads to odour nuisance
Due to a major forest fire in the district of Saalfeld (Thuringia), parts of northern Upper Franconia are currently also experiencing odour nuisance. The districts of Kulmbach, Kronach, Coburg, Lichtenfels, the northern part of the district of Bayreuth, the north-western part of the district of Bamberg, the north-western part of the district of Hof and the city of Coburg are currently affected.
For this reason, the government of Upper Franconia has issued a warning message at the lowest warning level 3 for the affected regions to inform the population via MoWaS (Modular Warning System). This level serves as precautionary information if there is no immediate danger to the population, but possible risks should be pointed out.
The responsible authorities have assessed the situation in detail. A health hazard can currently be ruled out. No special protective measures are therefore required. However, the population is asked to pay attention to possible changes in air quality and to keep windows and doors closed if necessary.
The government of Upper Franconia is in close contact with the integrated control centres and will continue to monitor the situation. If the overall situation changes, we will inform the public immediately.