Field fire season starts as barley harvest meets heat wave in Germany

With the onset of this year’s cereal harvest, air temperatures rise to June records. Overheated combine harvesters are often the cause of rapidly spreading fires that munch away the bone-dry stubbles in the fields. Usually dying off soon by the lack of further fuel, field fires can still create sparks that can start fires in nearby forests, where there is much more fuel available for major disasters.