Czech national park partially closed after blaze

The Czech National Park authority has decided to close a portion of the Ceske Svycarsko (Czech Switzerland) National Park after a destructive fire over the weekend. On Sunday afternoon fire fighters managed to contain a fire in the park, situated in the northwest of the country, after some 20 hectares of forest had been destroyed. Tourists are being warned that they must stay on marked hiking and biking trails, and police are not allowing anyone into the zone affected by the fire. The fire is the largest there in thirty years, and damages run into the millions of crowns. Firefighters expect to be at work for at least the next three days, neutralizing the situation. Experts say the risk of forest fires is extremely high in the current hot and dry weather.