The extinguishing pond dams the water of the Frohnwiesbach on the upper slope of the Franzosenkopf, which flows down a stone staircase, merges with the Breitwiesbach just before Oberheimbach and then flows into the Heimbach in the village.
A picnic bench is available for a rest by the pond, which is shimmering green with algae.
When two hectares of bare land burned on the Franzosenkopf at the beginning of the 1990s, more than 300,000 liters of extinguishing water were needed and they first had to be brought there. Reason enough to create a fire pond.
The pond, which is around 40 meters long and 20 meters wide and which used to have an island, holds up to 1.6 million liters. It could hardly be more idyllic than in the early years: a lonely pine tree stood on the island, only the sandy beach was missing. When the tree fell in a storm, the island was removed along with it.
In December 2019, the extinguishing pond was pumped out (the reason was a nearby lightning strike that highlighted the risk of forest fires) and creeping plants and silt that would clog the fire service pumps were removed. Contrary to expectations, the pond filled up again within a few days.