By Sabine Klier, Timo Beurich and Ole Kröning
The fire drama about the Grunewald explosive site. The good news: all fires at the blast site have been extinguished! A flock of sheep trapped in the flames also survived the inferno. The bad news: The Avus is still closed!
According to fire brigade spokesman Thomas Kirstein, the highway will continue to be needed for the provision of fire engines and emergency vehicles. “The decision as to whether the Avus can be released will not be made until Monday morning,” Kirstein told the BZ
The deserted Autobahn A115 (Avus) near the Hüttenweg exit. The road has been closed since Thursday due to the forest fire in Grunewald, which the police said was triggered at the blast site Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Wolfgang Kumm
However, the situation remains dangerous, with ground fires flaring up again and again between the detonation site and the inner restricted area of 500 meters.
Nevertheless, the helpers are now fighting the flames with increasing success. The fire brigade was on site on Sunday with 40 emergency services. A good 200 police officers secure the fire area.
Eight police water cannons (type WaWe 10,000) were also deployed. They sprayed up to 1200 liters per minute into the dry forest floor to prevent further fires. The firefighters advanced to the blasting site with two “Alpha Wolf R1” extinguishing robots.
WaWe 10,000: As the name suggests, the tank of the police water cannon holds ten thousand liters. Up to 1200 liters per minute can be fired about 65 meters from the front water cannons. Through the tail boom it is another 900 liters per minute. Five man crew Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/dpa
An incident involving a police vehicle caused a stir on Sunday. The armored special vehicle Survivor drove into a fire-fighting water pipe while maneuvering. Water shot up more than ten meters into the sky. However, the fire brigade commander on site managed to seal off the leak.
There is no further information on the cause of the disaster. A forester claims to have heard an explosion in a container at the blast site before the fire broke out on Thursday.
Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Gunnar Heine (58), head of the Berlin forests, got an idea of the damage on Sunday. There were ground fires on around 55 hectares. “The trees didn’t burn, but the eighty to hundred-year-old Scots pines will die,” Heine told the BZ
Gunnar Heine (58), head of the Berlin forests, speaks of the biggest forest fire since the end of World War II Photo: Sabine Klier
It is comforting that the oaks are recovering and sprout again. With enough rain, the black soil would quickly turn green.