Explosions, white smoke, disrupted transport: A fire broke out in Berlin’s largest forest on Wednesday, a highly unusual event, from a police ammunition depot.
The skies over Berlin took on a very unusual look in midsummer, with a cloud of white smoke visible over a large wooded area in the southwest of the German capital, Grunewald. At regular intervals explosions sounded in the morning.
“The fire is not yet under control and continues to spread. The situation is totally unusual because we have ammunition of war” on the site, which prevents the relay from being deployed, said Thomas Kirstein, the doorman, word of the Berlin firefighters.
Controlled bomb explosions of World War II
“We stay out of the fire perimeter for security reasons,” he said. A one kilometer security zone has been established around the ammunition storage site. Firefighters, 120 in all, line up around it.
“The fire spread over an area of 15,000 square meters, first to a police ammunition and explosives depot and disposal site, then to the surrounding forest,” according to fire officials.
This repository, located in Grunewald, is responsible for putting on controlled displays of artifacts entrusted to it, including World War II bombs, a legion of which are still buried underground in Berlin.
The army called as reinforcements.
“We call on people not to enter the forest, there is danger to their lives in the perimeter of the fire,” according to the firefighters’ spokesman, “we still do not know what started the fire, the police are investigating.
Even the army was called in to help. “We have ordered tanks from the Bundeswehr,” the spokesman said.
Firefighting helicopters could also be mobilized. Several explosions were heard from the ammunition depot.
This forest fire also caused interruptions in public transport, with several train lines crossing the area. The roads have been closed. However, no homes or people were affected.
Drought-Related Wildfires
It is very rare that the German capital falls victim to such fires. But with the drought affecting the whole of Europe, it is increasingly threatened by the importance of its wooded areas, a particularity of this metropolis of 4 million inhabitants.
Berlin has 29,000 hectares of forest, making it one of the most forested capitals in the world. Much of it is now dry. Throughout Berlin, in the Brandenburg region, several forest fires have already broken out since the beginning of summer. One of them devastated more than 850 hectares.
Southeastern Germany, on the border with the Czech Republic, has been fighting for several days to put out a forest fire. Much of the country is in a state of “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, including Berlin, according to the UFZ environmental research institute.
Source: BFM TV
