July 29, 2022: Smoke from embers and small fires is in a forest in the Elbe-Elster district Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa
From BZ/dpa
Almost a week after a forest fire broke out in southern Brandenburg, the authorities assess the situation as stable.
The Elbe-Elster district announced on Sunday evening in Herberg (Elster) that she had relaxed further. “The embers that are still there are fought separately.” A firefighting helicopter from the Bundeswehr has not been in use since Saturday.
According to the information, the area on the border with Saxony should continue to be “closely controlled” by the emergency services. The last concern was that embers could reignite the fire.
The fire broke out last Monday and quickly spread to around 800 hectares – an area about four times the size of Monaco. According to the district on Sunday afternoon, emergency services continued to fight embers on 500 hectares.
Some help brought rain on Saturday night. The creation of protective strips also contributed to easing the situation. “Everything was done against a large and uncontrollable risk of spread.”
The federal road 183 between Kötten and Marxdorf, which was closed due to the extinguishing work, is to be released again on Monday morning. “We are still cautious,” said a district spokeswoman in the evening of the German Press Agency. Firefighters were also on duty in the fire area for the next few days.
