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Fire spreads further in a forest fire near Beelitz in Brandenburg
Photo: Cevin Dettlaff / dpa
With up to 39.2 degrees, Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far.
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the maximum value was measured in Cottbus (Brandenburg) and Dresden-Strehlen (Saxony).
It was similarly warm in Hoyerswerda in Saxony: the temperature there climbed to 39.0 degrees.
The highest temperatures of the year to date had previously been determined on Saturday afternoon, at the Waghäusel-Kirrlach stations on the Upper Rhine (Baden-Württemberg) and in Bad Kreuznach (Rhineland-Palatinate) it was 37.1 degrees.
However, this is not a German temperature record: According to the DWD, 41.2 degrees Celsius were measured on July 25, 2019 at stations in Duisburg and Tönisvorst (near Krefeld).
A temperature record of 42.6 degrees measured in Lingen on the same day was later canceled afterwards.
Heavy forest fires in Brandenburg
In Brandenburg, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) did not rule out further evacuations in the eastern state in view of the forest fires that were spreading.
"We have to expect that the current situation can continue to worsen," said Woidke on the RBB radio station.
It could be “that there will be further evacuations”.
The situation is "much more dramatic than in 2018".
At Treuenbrietzen, the fire brigade and the Bundeswehr have been fighting a fire on the ground and from the air since Friday.
The fire was out of control again on Sunday evening.
Around 600 residents had to leave their homes temporarily.
According to the city of Treuenbrietzen, the operations management ordered the evacuation of three districts one after the other.
The flames had previously spread to around 200 hectares in the wooded area south of Berlin, despite ongoing firefighting operations.
Strong winds fueled the flames again and again.
A hospital in Treuenbrietzen was also preparing for an evacuation as a precaution.
Also in the southwest of Berlin, after a forest fire broke out near Beelitz, three streets of the city had to be evacuated, Mayor Bernhard Knuth told RBB.
Residents on other streets have been urged to also prepare for a possible evacuation.
According to the mayor, around 200 hectares are also burning near Beelitz.
There, 1000 emergency services tried to contain the flames.
Knuth told the German Press Agency in the evening that the forest fire was now under control.
tfb/dpa