The fire “is now well under control,” said a spokesperson for firefighters. “But the situation is completely unusual because [there are] war ammunition” on the site where the explosion took place which sparked the fire.
Le Monde With AFP
The sky of Berlin took on Thursday August 4 in the morning, exceptional looks in the heart of summer, with scrolls of white smoke visible above a large wooded area in the southwest of the capital. A large forest fire was underway following an explosion in a police ammunition deposit, announced the firefighters.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in the Grunewald forest, the largest in the German capital. At regular explosions intervals resounded in the morning. The fire is “now well under control”, according to the spokesperson for the Berlin firefighters. “But the situation is completely unusual because we have war ammunition” on the site, which prevent help from organizing in all serenity, he added.
Very important resources have been deployed, with 140 firefighters mobilized, equipment from the German army – with at least one tank to recover explosives -, a demoring robotic armored vehicle, drones and police helicopters to monitor The area. The firefighters also bring water from a river and a surrounding lake to try to turn off the flames. “The fire has spread over an area of 15,000 square meters, first on a site for depositing and defusing ammunition and police explosives, then in the surrounding forest”, according to the firefighters.
Update: 15,000 QM Waldfläche Brennen. Auch Der Sprengplatz Grunewald IST Betroffen. He kommt zu explosionen. Ein sp… https://t.co/ywuzjhzpdf
This deposit, installed in Grunewald, is responsible for carrying out controlled exhibitions of devices which are entrusted there, including bombs of the Second World War, still legion to be buried in the Berlin basement. “We call on people not to enter the forest, there is a peril for their life within the scope of the fire, according to the spokesperson for the firefighters. We do not yet know what has made the fire, the Police is investigating. “” Berlin security is not threatened, “said regional interior minister, Iris Spranger.
no victim to deplore
Several explosions from the ammunition deposit were heard, the last by a journalist from the France-Presse agency around 11 am. This forest fire also led to disturbances in public transport, especially for several train lines that cross the area. Roads have been closed. On the other hand, no house or no one has been affected.
It is very rare that the German capital is the victim of such a fire. But with the drought that strikes all of Europe, it is increasingly threatened because of the importance of its wooded areas, a peculiarity of this metropolis of 4 million inhabitants. Berlin has 29,000 hectares of forest, making it one of the most wooded capitals in the world.
a large part is currently dried up. Already, all around Berlin, in the Brandenburg region, several forest fires have declared themselves since the beginning of the summer. One of them ravaged more than 850 hectares.
South-eastern Germany, on the border with the Czech Republic, has been fighting for several days to put out a forest fire. A large part of the country is in a state of “extreme drought” or “exceptional”, notably Berlin, according to the UFZ Institute for Environmental Research.
According to scientists, repeated heat waves are an unequivocal marker of the global warming and these heat waves are called upon to multiply, lie down and intensify. The rise in temperatures and the multiplication of heat waves and droughts create ideal conditions for forest fires or bush fires.