Easter fire in danger: drought forces municipalities to act!

Easter fire in danger: drought forces municipalities to act!

The persistent drought has serious effects on the traditional Easter fire in North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, on April 10, 2025, the municipality of Morsbach prohibited all customs fire during the Easter holidays. This decision was made in the context of the current warning levels for forest fires, because the warning level 3 is currently underway in the Oberberg district, whereby a possible increase to level 4 is already being discussed for the next week. Since there is no Easter fire in the event of a risk of forest fires, it remains to be seen whether the other municipalities of the district will take similar measures. This reports Oberberg Aktuell .

The problem not only affects Morsbach, but is discussed all over North Rhine-Westphalia. Municipalities and fire brigade are in constant exchange, especially in the Sauerland and Siegerland regions, to make a uniform decision on the implementation of Easter fires. Persistent drought, which has been in large parts of the country for two months, has tightened the situation. The German Weather Service has currently classified the risk of forest fire at level 3, which already led to deleted smaller fires. However, the hope of rain at the weekend could be a turning point, although it remains unclear whether this significantly reduces the forest fire risk up to the Easter holidays, such as weather.com Notice.

Current decisions and local events

In the meantime there are different regulations and events in different communities. For example, Engelskirchen plans an Easter fire on Easter Saturday, April 19, from 5:30 p.m. at the Waldfestplatz in Remerscheid. Gummersbach follows with a fire from 4 p.m. in Rebbelroth. Lindlar has set for interested citizens that registrations must be made in the regulatory office by April 14 at the latest, whereby fire are only allowed under certain requirements - such as a minimum distance of 100 meters to the edge of the forest and the provision of a tank fire engine. The municipality of Reichshof also announced several events, including an Easter fire from the Heischeid youth fire brigade on April 19 at 7 p.m. Additional celebrations are planned for Easter Sunday in Eckenhagen and Nosbach, as Oberberg currently reports.

The uncertainty in relation to the risk of forest fires leads to increased caution in many communities. In Waldbröl, it is pointed out that short -term prohibitions are possible due to the weather conditions. The organizers and citizens are asked to critically rethink the implementation of the Easter fire. The discussion about the security and responsibility of the organizers becomes increasingly louder, since animal rights activists point out that animals often look for shelter in the wooden piles and can become victims of the flames, such as stern.de reported.