The forest fire has spread to around 27 hectares despite the extinguishing operation from the air. © Cevin Dettlaff/dpa
The largest forest fire in Brandenburg this year has been fought since Friday morning near Jüterbog with two firefighting aircraft. The machines are permanently in use, said head of operations Rico Valentin. There has been a fire on the ammunition-contaminated area in the district of Teltow-Fläming since Wednesday evening. The fire continued to spread. Because of the danger posed by old ammunition on the former military training area, the fire brigade cannot extinguish the fire from the ground.
Jüterbog - It is the largest forest fire this season, said the country's forest fire protection officer, Raimund Engel. On Thursday evening, the fire brigade spoke of an extension of the fire to 27 hectares - that is around 38 football fields. Drone footage has now shown that an area of more than 30 hectares is affected, Engel said.
The Jüterbog head of operations Valentin described that there are currently three major fire sites on which the extinguishing operation is concentrated. This involves an area of 8000 square meters.
The firefighting aircraft, which were requested by the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, are filled with water at the airfield in Schönhagen (Teltow-Fläming). The airfield is about 20 to 30 kilometers away from the affected fire area between Felgentreu and Jüterbog.
In Schönhagen, firefighters were ready to refuel the aircraft with extinguishing water via hoses, said head of operations Valentin. "Since we have two aircraft at our disposal, we are much faster." An airplane can hold around 2000 liters of water.
The use of firefighting aircraft is uncharted territory in Germany. So far, helicopters of the Bundeswehr and Federal Police have been used for large forest fires. However, the district of Harz has signed a contract with a Polish firefighting aircraft operator, which assures round-the-clock operational readiness during this forest fire season. The state of Lower Saxony wants to station rented firefighting aircraft at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport to fight forest fires. Dpa
