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During the forest fire at the junction of the Potsdam Expressway, firefighters fought the flames all night long. The initially planned evacuation of the village of Fichtenwalde has been canceled. "The danger is first banned," said Potsdam-Mittelmark vice-district administrator Christian Stein (CDU) on Thursday night. The 200 or so working groups controlled the flames, there was no danger that they would reach the houses. The ever-changing winds made the work of extinction more difficult. Fichtenwalde, a district of the city known for its asparagus Beelitz, has about 2800 inhabitants. According to local chief Tilo Köhn, about 200 to 300 residents were affected by evacuation.
The forest fire required long motorway closures, some of which continued on Friday morning. In direction of Dreieck Potsdam the A9 of Beelitz, east of Michendorf A10 and West Werder A10 were closed, said a spokesman of the police at Tagesspiegel.
The fire broke out directly in the A9 motorway. behind the junction of Potsdam motorway towards Leipzig. In the end, a 50-hectare pine forest was in flames. The consequences were enormous: the traffic on the important east-west tangent on the Berliner Ring south and towards Leipzig had collapsed for hours, on the A2 from Hanover to Berlin there was traffic jam. From afar, huge columns of smoke were visible. Late Thursday night, police reported that the Berlin road had been cleared. "The opposite direction is still blocked."
The first emergency call arrived at 1:30 pm. Fires spread quickly. In the late afternoon, the authorities closed the complete West Berlin ring between the triangles at A2 in the west and at A115 at Berlin. The A9 towards Leipzig was closed until Beelitz. As a safety measure – because we do not know how the fire has developed and because of the poor visibility through the smoke. In addition, the fire department has moved on the highway to fight the flames. The THW's helpers provided the car pbadengers who were stuck in traffic for hours. Downtown Potsdam was also very dense in the evening
Prepared Evacuation, Ammunition Explosions
About 200 firefighters were on duty until the evening, and the peasants were tinkering with their slurry trailers. A police helicopter provided emergency services with air photos with an overview of the situation. The flames moved up to 500 meters from the village Fichtenwalde.
Authorities first called on locals in the afternoon to pack clothes, medications and important documents as a precautionary measure and to prepare for evacuation. Residents should turn on the radio and television, keep the windows and doors closed. In the evening, however, the fire department badumed that it could prevent the spread of flames, but called a helicopter to fight the Bundeswehr fire. In addition, the forces had to be replaced.
The Ministry of the Interior of the Land of Brandenburg set up a crisis team, civil protection was activated. In the evening there were several explosions. According to Mayor Köhn, there is probably unexploded ordnance from the Second World War. As a result, firefighters were not allowed to enter the forest and had to fend off the edge of the forest. In addition, a gas pipeline, which also supplies Berlin, had to be secured.
For several days, the highest risk of forest fire prevailed in many parts of Brandenburg. On Thursday, a fire broke out on an old military training ground in Jüterbog. Due to ammunition left over, the fire department can not prevent the spread.
Due to several embankment fires and the Leipzig-Berlin railway line was closed in the afternoon. Several trains had to stop at the southern end of the country, until the fire was extinguished. (with dpa)
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