Extinguishing work by the fire brigade in a forest fire area. © Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/Symbolbild
The forest fire in an ammunition-contaminated area near Jüterbog (Teltow-Fläming) has spread in the course of Thursday. Firefighting is still only possible from the air, said the head of operations of the fire brigade, Rico Valentin. A firefighting aircraft from the Harz Mountains and a helicopter of the Bundeswehr were deployed in parallel to extinguish the fire.
Jüterbog - The fire, which broke out on Wednesday evening on a former military training area near Jüterbog, has now spread to around 13 hectares. "The spread is increasing moderately and still slowly," Valentin said.
On Thursday evening, according to the fire brigade operations manager, a second firefighting aircraft should arrive. Valentin expects two machines to drop water on the burning area on Friday. It is not yet clear whether a helicopter will continue to be available. For the time being, the firefighters cannot intervene from the ground. At night, a fire watch will be set up, it said.
So far, no firefighting aircraft have been used to fight fires in Brandenburg. "This is an experiment that we are carrying out here," Valentin said of the use of the machines. "We are thus gathering initial insights." The firefighting aircraft comes from the Harz Mountains in Saxony-Anhalt. Dpa