Firefighters reduce Czech Switzerland wildfire to five hectares

Firefighters have reduced the wildfire in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park from more than 100 hectares to five hectares and areal operations are no longer required, regional fire service spokesman Tomáš Kalvoda told the Czech News Aageny. Around 370 firefighters are expected to remain in the field on Wednesday and drones equipped with thermal cameras will monitor the no-fly zone to detect hidden hotspots.

Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

Tomáš Salov, spokesman for the park administration, said natural causes could be ruled out because there had been no thunderstorms in the area. He said the fire was most likely caused by human activity, as was the case with the country’s largest wildfire, which struck the area around Hřensko four years ago.