Absolute fire ban!
There is a severe drought throughout Switzerland and the risk of forest fires is rising and rising. More than 20 cantons have issued an absolute fire ban.
According to the forecasts of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, the weather situation will remain high-pressure in the coming days. Thus, the dry and hot weather during the day with temperatures of 31 to 35 degrees is expected to continue throughout the week. Only on August 1, increased thunderstorms are expected, which, however, will hardly contribute to a significant alleviation of the drought, as the Federal Office for the Environment writes in its communication. Under the current conditions, fires could spread very quickly.
The whole of Switzerland affected
The forest fire danger is classified as "very high" in Valais and in several regions of Grisons and St.Gallen. In the rest of Switzerland, there is a high risk of forest fires, except in the Bernese Oberland and in the cantons of Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Vaud and Geneva, where the majority of the forest fire risk is considerable (see map of the Forest fire risk).
By following these rules, you can help prevent forest fires:
- Be aware of the local hazardous situation.
- Be sure to observe fire bans.
- Observe information from the Internet, radio and television, and in newspapers.
- Never throw away burning cigarettes and matches.
- Fireworks only in places with the express permission of the site municipality.
In places where the lighting of fires is allowed:
- Refrain from outdoor fires in strong and gusty winds.
- When grilling, use fixed fireplaces (without direct contact with the ground).
- Monitor fire continuously and extinguish any sparks immediately.
- Do not leave grills and fireplaces and their surroundings unless they are absolutely extinguished.
The Federal Office for the Environment, in close cooperation with the cantons, provides information on the forest fire risk and issues warnings. The cantons and municipalities are responsible for determining the warning level and initiating the regionally and locally required measures.
Fire is an irregularly occurring and spatially heterogeneous phenomenon. In order to be able to comprehensively describe the fire occurrence of a specific area, one needs forest fire statistics covering several years. More on the topic of forest fire management in the next issue of the SafetyForum 4/18.
