During the last years, a large number of forest fires has hit North and South America, the Mediterranean countries, Indonesia and Asia. In some countries, their number has recently increased significantly. The fires have caused severe ecological and economical damage as well as a large number of casualties. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Germany is one of the areas most endangered by forest fires in Central Europe because of its climatic conditions, especially in the Eastern part. In 2008, more than 800 fires have destroyed 539 ha of forest causing a damage of approx. 1 Mio. Euros [1].
