Friday, October 9, 2015, 1:23 PM – Helmut Brunner is probably the last person German firefighters expected when they showed up to extinguish a forest fire over the weekend.

That’s because not only is Brunner the forestry minister of the German state of Bavaria, he also spent most of the summer warning people about the increased risk of forest fires in that part of Germany.

“I completely underestimated it,” Brunner told German radio, according to The Telegraph. “This is really embarrassing. You can’t be too careful.”

It seems Brunner tossed the embers of a backyard bonfire into the nearby woods, unaware that they were still smouldering.

And adding to the kerfuffle, it appears Brunner was breaking the local bylaws anyway, as burning backyard waste on a public holiday was apparently against Bavarian law.

A passing driver noticed the smoke and called the fire department. They put it out without too much trouble, but it still took 22 of them, along with 4,000 litres of water.

As for Brunner, he’ll probably be sheepish for awhile, especially given how dry it’s been in Germany this season. The country received so little rainfall that parts of the River Rhine fell low enough to force cruise ships to limit their routes.

SOURCE: The Telegraph

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