Firefighters from several countries joined forces to fight the big fire in a national park in the northern Czech Republic, which also spread to the territory of Germany, Czech representatives reported, quoted by BTA.

The fire in the Bohemian Switzerland Nature Park broke out on Sunday and was largely contained before windy weather reignited it yesterday afternoon and overnight.

Firefighters said about thirty hectares of the park were affected by the flames, as well as more areas across the border in the German state of Saxony.

So far, no injuries have been reported.

Around eighty people have been evacuated from the border town of Hrensko, more people have been evacuated from the village of Mezna, where the flames have destroyed or damaged several homes, said Lukash Marvan, the spokesman of the fire service.

Dozens evacuated due to a large fire in a nature park in the Czech Republic

Dozens of German children were evacuated from a summer camp on the Czech side of the border and taken back to Germany. 

The Czech Republic asked its neighboring countries for help, firefighters announced.

Poland has sent a helicopter to join the fight, and Slovakia is expected to do the same.

The Czech side also requested three Canadair aircraft, specially designed for aerial firefighting.

The Prime Minister of the country, Petar Fiala, and the Minister of the Interior, Vit Rakushan, visited the disaster area today. 

The Czech Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology announced that smoke from the fire had spread more than a hundred kilometers from the site of the fire.

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Czech Republic

forest fire fighting