The Börzsöny Mountain Rescue Service was first alerted on Sunday morning by local residents and subsequently by the Disaster Management Authority that a fire had broken out in the forest on Tamás-hegy, near Szokolya.
Professional firefighters from Vác and volunteer firefighters from Nagymaros immediately responded in force. A total of seven members of the Börzsöny Mountain Rescue Service, including both duty personnel and rescuers on standby at home, joined the operation.
The mountain rescuers' first action was to deploy the Service's drone, which allowed them to quickly establish the exact location and extent of the fire from the air. Using the live aerial imagery, they were able to provide firefighters with precise information about the location of the fire, the size of the affected area and the best direction from which to approach it.
Following the initial aerial reconnaissance, the mountain rescuers worked together with the Nagymaros volunteer firefighters to establish access for the fire engines. The difficult forest terrain required them to clear a route and identify an approach that would allow the vehicles to get as close to the fire as possible.
The flames were burning high on the mountainside in an area inaccessible by road. As a result, the main water supply hose had to be laid over a considerable distance through difficult, steep forest terrain. Once the hose line had been established, the professional firefighters from Vác began tackling the fire.
However, the terrain made it impossible to reach all of the fire hotspots using conventional firefighting methods. Backpack water tanks and hand tools therefore also had to be used. Firefighters and the mountain rescuers assisting them worked their way across the affected mountainside in difficult terrain, extinguishing remaining flames and smouldering hotspots as they progressed.
A particular concern was the pine forest located close to the fire. Had the flames reached the pine trees, the fire could have spread much more rapidly and unpredictably, potentially putting a far larger area at risk.
After a prolonged operation, the fire was finally brought under control before it could reach the nearby pine forest. Although this prevented the incident from developing into a significantly more serious forest fire, the blaze still caused considerable damage to the affected woodland.
We would like to thank the Szokolya Civil Guard, the local field ranger and the public area inspector for their assistance during the operation. They secured the scene, closed the access road and provided cold drinking water to those involved in the emergency response.
The operation once again demonstrated that during a forest fire, access through difficult terrain is just as crucial as rapid reconnaissance and accurate location information. In the steep and densely forested areas of the Börzsöny Mountains, simply getting firefighters, rescuers, equipment and water supply lines close enough to the fire can itself be a major challenge.
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