Keystone
A forest fire in the municipality of Brusio, in canton Graubünden, was brought under control by emergency crews on Wednesday morning.
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Five helicopters from Swisshelicopter and Heli Bernina, along with an army Super Puma, were used to support the fire service. The Rhaetian Railway line remains closed until further notice, with replacement buses running.
The fire near the Brusio circular viaduct covers an area of about two square kilometres between Campascio and Viano. A drone fitted with thermal imaging cameras could still be used to identify any remaining hotspots. This was confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency by the mayor of Brusio, Pietro Della Cà, who has been monitoring the operation throughout.
Services on the Rhaetian Railway are still suspended, and the road to the village of Viano has also been closed since Tuesday evening. Until at least midday, the village – home to around 60 people – could only be reached via a forest track. No evacuation was required.
The forest fire was reported at 3:40pm on Tuesday, the Graubünden cantonal police said in a statement on Wednesday. Firefighting operations resumed on Wednesday morning after crews kept watch overnight.
The Federal Office of Civil Aviation ordered a temporary airspace closure until Thursday evening to avoid disrupting the firefighting effort.
Initial findings suggest the fire started during the legal burning of wood waste. However, dry and windy conditions in recent days are believed to have caused it to spread, producing a thick cloud of smoke that blanketed the entire valley. Graubünden cantonal police have launched an investigation.
Alertswiss imposed a complete ban on outdoor fires across all valleys in the Italian‑speaking part of Graubünden on Wednesday morning.
Translated from German by AI/sp
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