Forest fire in the Latsch trail spot: Trails open again, damage quantified

Since last Friday (21 March), the official name is "Fire out" on the Sonnenberg in Latsch. Since then, the responsible forestry authority has already stepped on the gas and completed the roughest clean-up work. This means that hiking trails and bike trails can be used again. Only trail no. 9, i.e. the upper entrance to the Monte Sole Trail, remains closed because it leads through the centre of the fire area with the greatest destruction. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find out how much work is still needed here, as the trail builders themselves have not yet been allowed into the area.

Pedalling up the road is also not yet possible. On the website of the market town of Latsch it says:

For safety reasons, the access road to St. Martin im Kofel will be closed to traffic from Monday, 24 March 2025 from 8:00 to 13:00 and from 13:30 to 16:30 until further notice (only on working days).

The damage caused by the forest fire can now be quantified:

The 6 firefighting helicopters were in operation for a total of 119 hours. Approximately 12,000 litres of extinguishing water were dropped every 3 minutes. The total area of the fire is 93.23 hectares, of which 31.14 hectares are considered "completely destroyed". The costs for the short and medium-term measures in the fire area totalled around 650,000 euros.

BIKE fire report from 12 March:

The weather station on the Zugspitze received a lot of worried calls on Thursday 6 March. They asked where the black band of clouds that could be seen in the sky above the Wetterstein mountains came from. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen itself, there was also a distinct smell of burning in the air. The weather experts were able to give the all-clear for the immediate vicinity via social media, but the news was not reassuring:

The smoke from the fire came from the Vinschgau Valley in South Tyrol, 100 kilometres away as the crow flies, where a large fire had broken out in the mountain forest since midday. Six helicopters have already been deployed to extinguish the fire and 59 villagers are currently being evacuated.

Fire at Latscher Sonnenberg: What happened?

A car parked near St. Martin am Kofel caught fire at midday on 6 March for reasons as yet unknown. Strong south-westerly winds threw the sparks into the surrounding forest and as it had not rained in the Vinschgau Valley for weeks, the fire spread rapidly.

A total of 300 firefighters and mountain rescue teams, as well as 6 helicopters, were quickly on the scene and were able to contain the main fire by nightfall. Problems were caused by individual pockets of embers that had spread across the Latsch Sonnenberg and repeatedly flared up during the night. It was not until the next day that the helicopters were able to resume the extinguishing work and put out the last open fire.

But even after six days, drones with thermal imaging cameras continue to discover new pockets of embers in the roots of the trees. The weather service for the northern Italy Unfortunately, the forecast rain has not yet proved to be abundant enough. Instead, persistent fog is now making it difficult for the fire brigade to extinguish fires.

So far, 11 people have had to be treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and a barn near a farmhouse has burned down. The total area of the fire is now estimated at 100 hectares, the equivalent of 146 football pitches.

What about the trails in Latsch?

The mountain bike classics of Latsch wind their way through the mountain forest slopes of St. Martin: the Monte Sole and Tschilli trails. And as a lot of earth, stones and heated rocks have to be moved during the extinguishing work to remove the pockets of embers, there is concern that the trails will also be affected. Matze Gruber from Vinschgau Bike and the Trail Doctors, who look after the Vischau trails:

The mountain is still closed to us until the fire brigade and geologists give the all-clear. So I can't say much yet. But from what I can see from the valley, the trails are not significantly affected by the firebreak.

According to the fire brigade, it will be at least another week before the mountain can be reopened. First of all, a few small fires need to be extinguished, then some trees need to be felled and loose stones secured. Until then, the road, cable car, hiking paths and trails around St. Martin will remain closed in any case.

Incidentally, social media channels are surprisingly unanimous when it comes to the cause of the fire. "Probably an electric car!", many people speculate. But when we enquired at the scene, we found out: It is said to have been a French combustion model.

A burning car also triggered a forest fire in Austria

A very similar fire drama occurred last Saturday in the Rax-Schneeberg area near Schwarzau on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border (district of Neunkirchen, south of Vienna). Here, too, a car caught fire due to a technical defect and sent sparks flying into the dust-dry forest.

The particularly steep mountain slopes made it difficult for the five helicopters and 340 firefighters to extinguish the fire, some of whom had to work their way to the embers on all fours, even at night. Last Monday, the fire was finally deemed to be "under control", although the thermal imaging cameras were still circling in the sky and two helicopters were kept on standby.

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