Regensburg. The risk of forest fires in many parts of Bavaria increased over the past past days.

According to the Forestry Ministry on Wednesday, already the two highest warning levels, four and five, were registered in Franconia and Eastern Bavaria.  "One carelessly discarded cigarette falling on dry vegetation could cause a catastrophic fire," said Minister Helmut Brunner (CSU) in his statement.

Especially high is the risk of forest fires in sparse pine areas and forests in urban areas. Therefore in the coming days, airborne fire observers will be used in Eastern Bavaria, as suggested by government authorities in Regensburg and Landshut.

The air observers will be flown by volunteer pilots from the Bavarian air rescue squadron. These are mostly non-professional hobby pilots. The cost of flight hours are taken from the Disaster Fund. From a total of five airfields in Lower and Upper Palatinate, the pilots will circle around the areas at risk so that potential forest fires could be detected  early.