Credit: Jazmin Campbell

Luxembourg's authorities have issued a statement aimed at raising public awareness of the risks of vegetation and forest fires.

As part of the work of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, led by the General Department of Civil Security of Luxembourg's Ministry of Home Affairs, the vegetation and forest fires working group, made up of experts from the relevant authorities, has developed guidelines for behaviour during the vegetation and forest fire season. Depending on how the weather develops in the coming weeks, and particularly during prolonged periods of high temperatures and no precipitation, the public is urged to remain particularly vigilant regarding the risk of vegetation and forest fires and to adopt the following recommendations:

  • do not throw cigarette butts on the ground;
  • do not light fires outdoors;
  • restrict barbecues to designated areas and have an extinguishing device nearby (e.g. a container filled with water);
  • do not dispose of barbecue embers in nature - wait until the embers have cooled before disposing of them in designated areas;
  • do not drive in meadows, fields or forests, as both possible sparks and the hot underside of vehicles can potentially cause a fire;
  • do not block access to forest roads or fields to ensure access for firefighters in the event of vegetation or forest fires - in the event of a fire, quickly notify the emergency services via the emergency telephone number 112, specifying the location (forest rescue point, if relevant) and indicating the access routes to the firefighters when they arrive on the scene.

The statement was issued by Luxembourg's Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of the Economy, the Water Management Agency (AGE), the Nature and Forestry Agency (ANF), the Air Navigation Administration (ANA), the Administration of Technical Agricultural Services (ASTA) and the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS).