Forest fire near Treuenbrietzen on an area suspected of being explosive ordnance

Created: 06/17/2022Updated: 06/17/2022, 21:05

Fire and smoke can be seen in the background.

© Joerg Carstensen/dpa

About four years ago, flames raged for days in a forest southwest of Berlin.

At that time, more than 500 people had to leave their villages.

Firefighters are now fighting a fire again in the vicinity – under similarly difficult conditions.

Potsdam/Treuenbrietzen – A forest fire broke out near Frohnsdorf near Treuenbrietzen (Potsdam-Mittelmark).

The fire had spread to about 60 hectares by the evening, reported the spokeswoman for the district, Andrea Metzler, on Friday evening.

According to her, the fire brigade, police, army and technical relief organization (THW) were on site.

A total of 380 forces are deployed.

A massive cloud of smoke can be seen as far south as Brandenburg, said forest fire protection officer Raimund Engel.

The civil protection asked the population in the area around Treuenbrietzen, Linthe and Niemegk to keep windows and doors closed.

The district spokeswoman said the situation was dynamic.

"The wind is changing, it's very dry again," said Metzler.

So far, however, no towns are in danger, she emphasized.

The use of the firefighters could be difficult because it is also an area in the suspected explosive ordnance area, explained the forest fire protection officer.

Areas are affected where there was already a fire in 2018.

"There have already been detonations," reported Engel.

Therefore, the extinguishing work could only be done from the edge.

Engel assumes that the work will continue on Saturday.

"One can only hope that the wind will calm down a bit," he said.

According to district spokeswoman Metzler, water cannons were requested and approved.

The federal highway 102 was closed because of the operation.

Efforts should be made to contain the fire.

An area of ​​143 hectares would be available for this, according to the spokeswoman.

In 2018, flames raged for several days in the forest southwest of Berlin in Treuenbrietzen.

At that time, around 400 hectares of forest had been destroyed.

Due to the major fire, more than 500 people had to leave the villages of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.

dpa