New forest fires in Brandenburg – two places have already been evacuated

From BZ/dpa

Two other major fires broke out on forest and farmland in Brandenburg on Monday. Areas affected are north of Berlin near Gransee and in the very south of the country in the Elbe-Elster district. In one case, wind turbines are located on or near the affected areas. Residents should prepare for a possible evacuation.

South of Rehfeld in the Elbe-Elster district, a fire broke out on an area of ​​initially 10 hectares early Monday afternoon, which quickly expanded to around 100 hectares. There is also a wind farm there. The situation was very confusing due to the strong wind, the deputy forest fire protection officer Philipp Haase reported on Monday to the German Press Agency. According to him, there is a fire in the forest between wind turbines, at least one system is within the fire area, other wind turbines are at risk. There is a lot of smoke that can be seen from afar, Haase described.

According to the fire brigade, there is a risk of the fire spreading in the direction of the Rehfeld and Kölsa settlements. People there were asked to keep windows and doors closed and to prepare for an evacuation as a precaution. According to the city, a tank extinguishing unit from the Cottbus fire brigade also moved out to the Elbe-Elster forest fire area on Monday afternoon – most of them volunteers.

At Gransee, north of Berlin in the Oberhavel district, the fire brigade fought a fire on around 60 hectares of fields and forests. It was contained and is now under control, according to the forest fire protection expert. It is estimated that up to 100 emergency services were on site, as a spokesman for the Northeast regional control center announced. There is still remedial work to be done. A police helicopter flew over the area with a thermal imaging camera.

The biggest forest fire of the year so far in Elbe-Elster and Brandenburg occurred at the end of June on the border with Saxony in Gohrischheide – around 20 kilometers away. The fire had spread in the direction of Mühlberg (Elbe-Elster) in Brandenburg. More than 800 hectares were at times in flames. The locations of Kröbeln and Kosilenzien in the town of Bad Liebenwerda had to be evacuated in the meantime.

Police say some forest fires are caused by arson. This is the case, for example, with a series of fires in the Oranienburg area (Oberhavel). Within a few days there had been numerous small fires in close proximity to each other. Traces had been secured, said Christin Knospe, spokeswoman for the North Police Department, the dpa on Monday. “We check connections.”

According to the Ministry of the Environment, human activity causes more than 90 percent of all forest fires with up to 99 percent of the areas damaged by forest fires. “That causes us massive problems,” reported forest fire expert Haase.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, the highest level of forest fire risk was five in almost the entire country on Monday. Only in Potsdam-Mittelmark was the second highest level four. Brandenburg has a forest area of ​​around 1.1 million hectares.

In the Lieberoser Heide, the emergency services are still doing post-extinguishing work after the big fire on an area of ​​90 hectares three weeks ago. There are still up to 20 smaller fires, said Haase. The forest area has not yet been handed over to the forest owner. The risk of forest fires is still very high, he emphasized.

According to him, the forest fire damage in Brandenburg could be greater this year than in the hot year of 2018. “The number of fires to date (July 25) was 376, around 100 higher than at the same time in 2018,” reported Haase . As of Monday, around 950 hectares of fire area have been registered. In 2018, 1,650 hectares of forest fell victim to the flames, as the Ministry of the Environment in Potsdam announced in response to a request from the AfD parliamentary group. According to the forest fire center, this was the highest value since 1990.

“The decisive factor is whether we will have further major damage situations in the coming days and weeks,” emphasized Haase. The situation on the ammunition-loaded areas, where the fire-fighting crews could only be used to a limited extent for safety reasons, is still “problematic”. The wildfire season lasts until the end of September.