Forest fire near Potsdam: traffic jams on the A9 and other closures

The forest fire at the Potsdam interchange also continues on Friday with long traffic jams. In the morning, the Potsdam triangle A9 to the south and Werder triangle A10 were blocked in the Potsdam triangle, as the police said.

This means that the important East-West intra-European axis is still not practicable. Motorists and truckers are welcome to circulate in the area.

Vehicles also scrambled on nearby detour roads and in downtown Potsdam. On Thursday and at night, sections of the highway were temporarily blocked in both directions.

Meanwhile, special forces controlled the forest fire near Fichtenwalde in Brandenburg by extinguishing it. He also used a special helicopter from the Bundeswehr, which is equipped for night flights. Sometimes the police have planned to evacuate the small town. However, it was not necessary.

Fichtenwalde firefighters reported on their Facebook page that the operation had continued "at full speed" during the night. "The fire does not go out," said the firefighters in the morning. There's still much to do".

Remnants of World War II ammunition made the extinction difficult in the forest on the A9 and A10 motorways southwest of Potsdam. Due to the danger of a possible explosion, according to the fire department, an extinguishing tank had already been used, which had already contributed to the forest fires on the former military training areas [19659012]. The Federal Police supported the firefighting according to their own information with a helicopter with an extinguishing tank, which dropped the water from the air. According to Landratsamt, 200 firefighters were on duty. The police sent 80 officials. Also a police water cannon was used in the fight against flames.

Increased risk of forest fire in many federal states

Due to the persistent heat and drought, the danger of forest fire in Germany is currently extremely high. In areas of Brandenburg covered by extensive pine forests, the highest level of danger applies. Given the risk, the Greens have asked for more investments in prevention and special equipment in the Bundestag. Germany needed enough specialists and equipment such as planes

In view of the devastating forest fires in Sweden and Greece, a discussion about possible deficits has already taken place in recent days in Germany

. it increases to fires. In Altena, North Rhine-Westphalia, fire fighters fought a forest fire. There were 350 helpers who cleaned about a hectare of flaming land on the mountainside.

From other federal states such as Lower Saxony, firefighters also reported an increase in surface fires and backfill, which could be quickly extinguished. Even in big cities like Berlin and Hamburg, firefighters are in a state of alert.