From BZ/dpa
The fire brigades in Brandenburg do not rest when it is very dry and hot.
After emergency services were able to bring a large forest fire under control in the south on the state border with Saxony, the next fire broke out elsewhere on Monday: on a former military training area near Jüterbog (Teltow-Fläming district), around 60 kilometers south of Berlin, The flames spread to 10 hectares within two hours, as the country’s forest fire protection officer, Raimund Engel, announced.
A number of firefighters were on site to fight the flames, others were alerted. In order to prevent it from spreading, they wanted to set up a so-called locking position, among other things. According to Engels, it was difficult to predict how the fire would develop in the evening. Partly strong gusts of wind made the situation difficult to predict. Localities were initially not in danger because the fire broke out in the center of the former military area.
Only about a week ago, nearby forest fires in Treuenbrietzen and Beelitz caused great danger. About 200 hectares were in flames there. Then came the big fire in the south of the country: it broke out on Thursday at a former military training area in Gohrischheide in Saxony and on Friday it spread in the direction of Mühlberg (Elbe-Elster).
Engel announced on Monday that the fire there was under control but had not been extinguished, so the danger was not over. Over the next few days, embers would have to be closely monitored. They could flare up in the wind.
Smoke can be seen in the Gohrischheide on the state border with Brandenburg (archive photo Photo: dpa/picture alliance
“The tension is still high,” said Engel. In the afternoon and early evening clouds of smoke rose again on the Saxon side.
The former military training area near Jüterbog, on which fire broke out on Monday, was used by the military from 1864 until the 1990s. According to the explosive ordnance disposal service, all kinds of ammunition are still stored there. In the past few decades they have rotted away and become unpredictable. In June 2019, around 800 hectares burned in the area during the largest forest fire in decades.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, Brandenburg is the state with the highest proportion of areas contaminated with ordnance in Germany. Around 392,000 hectares of its total area are still considered polluted.
