Extinguishing water must be fetched from Krumme Lanke and Havel

By Larissa Hoppe and Alina-Doreen Gröning

First, a drone and a helicopter from the federal police were used to get an overview of the initially confusing situation.

Later in the morning, the emergency services then started with containment work. Within a 1,000 meter radius of the fire, they began irrigating the adjacent wooded areas.

This is to make it more difficult for the flames to spread. “The operation will take a long time,” said fire department spokesman Thomas Kirstein. The police are deployed with clearing equipment and water cannons.

In addition to the explosive material, the dryness in the forest and the access roads are a major challenge for the emergency services.

And: Since the water supply via the network is different than in the city area, extinguishing water is taken from the adjacent waters Krumme Lanke and a bay of the Havel. This has to be built into the area over a distance of 3 kilometers with the support of a fireboat and various firefighting vehicles.

Incidentally, the emergency services cannot count on a fire-fighting helicopter from the Bundeswehr! Because one is currently not available due to the forest fire in Saxony.

But: For a detailed assessment of the danger from the ammunition stored at the blasting site, armored vehicles of the Bundeswehr are on site, which are to explore the situation within the restricted area at a later date and together with the demolition expert.

Lockdown could last until evening

“The situation is unclear. The forest continues to burn uncontrollably,” says a fire department spokesman. The aim is to fight the fire at a distance of one kilometer from the blast site. The emergency services could not get any closer so as not to endanger themselves in the event of further explosions. This operation could be life-threatening, said a fire department spokesman.

The radius of the restricted area could remain in place beyond midday, possibly even into the evening, it said.

Because there is still an “enormous danger” from explosions and flying debris for the emergency services, said a fire department spokesman for the broadcaster NTV.

Since the emergency services are not making any further progress, there is still no reliable information about what the blasting site in the forest looks like. At the same time, the fire continues to spread uncontrollably. “We’re concerned,” said a fire department spokesman.

According to their own statements, the fire brigade identified three to four embers from the air by midday. “But we can’t fight them yet because they are in this danger area,” said a fire department spokesman for NTV.

Up to 50 tons of explosives

Ammunition is stored on the site – according to fire department spokesman James Klein, up to 50 tons! These are explosive ordnance and illegal fireworks. “There are different storage classes. The really large ordnance is stored in refrigerated steel containers under strict security conditions. It goes from firecrackers to war ammunition.”

The material is controlled and defused by the explosive ordnance disposal service of the Berlin police. Found ammunition is understood to mean, among other things, found ammunition that has not yet been clearly identified.

Why has so much explosives accumulated there? According to the fire brigade, it is not possible to blast in summer when it is so hot due to the high risk of forest fires. The last blasts were in June. Accordingly, the ammunition had accumulated.

“The forest is bone dry”

It can be assumed that the high level of drought in the area will affect the further course of the fire, it said.

And then there is the heat expected for Thursday, which could cause problems for the emergency services. Up to 38 degrees are expected! However, the wind should only blow weakly.

“The forest is bone dry,” said Jan Thomsen, spokesman for the Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection on Thursday. The forests could not have recovered from the past drought periods.

When asked how useful a blasting site in the forest was at all, he said: “We will deal with the safety issues once the cause of the fire has been clarified.”

The explosions at the blast site

The first alarm came around 3:30 a.m. The fire broke out after an unintentional explosion at the explosive site in Zehlendorf and set the adjacent forest on fire.

According to a fire brigade spokesman, the first emergency services that were on site reported “steel beams weighing tons that were thrown around their ears”. The detonations of explosive devices can be heard again and again until the morning.

Residential areas are not in danger. “We will prevent that,” said a spokesman for the fire department. The nearest residential buildings are at least two kilometers away.

However, the authorities warned the population via warning apps and called on them to avoid the danger area. Residents should keep windows and doors closed. Ventilation and air conditioning should be turned off.

The regional, long-distance and S-Bahn traffic are interrupted, as the railway announced on its website. The Avus motorway between Spanish Allee and Hüttenweg is blocked in both directions, as is Kronprinzessinnenweg and Havelchaussee, according to the Berlin traffic center.

According to a fire department spokesman, no one was injured in the explosion.

(with dpa)