Firefighters battle Czechia's largest wildfire of the year near Velhartice in the Klatovy region for nearly 24 hours

Around fifty professional firefighters and volunteers are continuing to battle a forest fire on a steep hillside near the village of Velhartice in Czechia's Klatovy district. The blaze broke out on Saturday around 4:00 pm, and by Sunday it had spread across five hectares of forest — up from the three hectares initially reported.

According to fire chief Aleš Bucifal, the spread of the flames was halted overnight on Saturday, with the third and highest level of fire alert lifted around midnight. No one was injured, and preliminary damage is estimated at around one million koruna — a quarter more than Saturday's estimate.

A helicopter fitted with a water bucket worked over the fire until Saturday evening, when it had to be withdrawn around 8:30 pm due to fading light. After that, firefighters continued pumping water to the upper station from a pond, and from a stream lower down the hillside.

"Right now we're putting out visible hotspots that are still smouldering or smoking a little, and afterwards the area will be scanned with a thermal imaging camera to look for hidden underground fires beneath tree roots and the layer of pine needles," Bucifal said on Sunday. He added that fire crews would remain on site at least for the rest of Sunday, and possibly into Monday as well.

Forestry specialists confirmed that across the entire burned area, the roots of pines and spruces were destroyed and tree trunks damaged. Around fifty firefighters are involved in the operation, including specialists using drones — crews were rotated on Sunday morning, with fresh units relieving those who had worked through the night. Residents of Velhartice have been regularly supplying firefighters with food and drink, and Bucifal described cooperation with locals as flawless.

"There have been many forest fires in the Klatovy region this year, but this one is the largest in scale and in the number of personnel and equipment deployed," the fire chief stressed. The dangerous terrain adds an extra layer of difficulty, with the steep hillside posing a real fall risk for firefighters.

Earlier on Saturday, starting at 2:00 pm, more than twenty Klatovy firefighters tackled a separate, smaller fire in Opolenec, part of the town of Kašperské Hory. There, flames covered an area of roughly 50 by 50 metres and were extinguished within an hour, after which the site was handed back to its owner.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by ct24.ceskatelevize.cz