Fire brigade wants to reduce the danger area around the blast site

Created: 08/07/2022, 10:55 am

Fire engines and police vehicles are near the scene of the fire at the blast site.

© Christophe Gateau/dpa

When fighting the fire at the blast site in Berlin's Grunewald, the fire brigade wants to get closer to the source of the fire.

The current goal is to reduce the danger area, said fire brigade spokesman Mario Witt on Sunday.

It is about being able to bring the emergency services closer to the center and being able to continue to be active in the forest.

In many small places it is still burning.

Berlin – The firefighters currently have a safety area of ​​500 meters around the blasting site.

In the morning, a demolition expert was to be brought to the demolition site in an armored vehicle in order to get a new assessment of the situation.

This could then result in possible adjustments to the measures.

Witt spoke of a very dynamic situation in which a lot could change in the short term.

The situation in the center remains explosive.

"We're still talking about a very acute danger at the blast site," said Witt.

"If special forces now enter the scene directly, that doesn't mean that there is no danger there, but that it is very much there.

That's why we have to act with extreme caution there." The work on the blast site is life-threatening.

Tons of old grenades, ammunition and confiscated fireworks are stored in buildings on the site.

The detonation site for the destruction of weapons and explosives has existed since 1950. The police are responsible there.

Four mobile extinguishing units with six vehicles were on the road during the night.

These watered the forest in the area around the danger area to protect areas that are not yet affected by the fire.

At the same time, smaller fires were fought again and again in the development phase.

The cooling measures with water on the blasting site were suspended again at night because the robots and tanks used did not have enough light and visibility.

This work continued in the morning.

The railway is on the way back to normal after the track closure in local and long-distance traffic has been lifted.

The transport company assumes that the trains will be able to run again in the usual timetable from Monday.

The 115 Autobahn, called Avus, remains closed and there is no foreseeable opening.

The safety zone of 1,000 meters around the site that has existed since the fire broke out on Thursday remains in place.

An exception applies only to the railway line that runs on the outer edge of the exclusion zone.

dpa