Massive effort to tackle blaze at Poland’s largest national park

Six planes, territorial soldiers, extra firefighters and police helicopters are being deployed to help fight a blaze which has engulfed swathes of Poland’s largest national park.

A firefighter tackles the blaze at the Biebrzański national park earlier this week

Photo: PAP/Artur Reszko

The fire at the Biebrzański park in the country's north-east broke out on Sunday and has now engulfed 6,000 hectares of forest, meadows and peat bogs, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s news agency reported on Wednesday afternoon.

It added that 36 teams of firefighters were tackling the blaze, the biggest in the region for years.

The national park is home to wild animals and a range of protected species of birds and plants, the agency added.

Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said two police helicopters, a Black Hawk and a Bell, would support firefighters’ efforts from the air.

Kamiński added that the park is the only site of its kind in Europe.

(pk/gs)

Source: IAR/PAP

Go to this page for an audio report.