Fichtenwalde: The forest fire near Potsdam only disappears in a few days – firefighters call for caution

Fichtenwalde –

The forest fire near Fichtenwalde in Brandenburg on Friday fired on the forces. According to the local fire department and the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the flames in the area, partially contaminated by the ammunition of the Second World War, were under control but not extinguished. Among other things, the badistants used special fire-fighting armor to crush the trails in the burning forest.

"It will be several days before the fire is finally extinguished," said the district administration. The fire service according to the extinguishing works in the forest area were immediately at a highway junction southwest of Potsdam by the ammunition "mbadively slowed down". The fire is currently stopped on a long bike path through the area and no longer spreads, she shared.

The danger of forest fire in Germany is extremely high, due to prolonged heat and drought. The area covered by pine forests in Brandenburg has the highest level of security. In Altena, North Rhine-Westphalia, firefighters continued to fight a forest fire on Friday. 300 badistants were there to extinguish the flames on an inaccessible mountain side. The German Association of Firefighters has called for caution

Forest fires in Germany are becoming "limited," said federation president Hartmut Ziebs in Berlin. In the face of the extreme heat, it was necessary to expect fires. The firefighters were with a national system but well placed and can intervene quickly mbadively.

Useless evacuation

Because of the fire on Thursday in Fichtenwalde, there was initially a fear of evacuation from the place, but later useless. Nearby highways 9 and 10 had to be temporarily shut down completely, Friday according to the police and encircle only one directional roadway of the A10 unusable. About 200 firefighters were in the area during the night.

The fire-fighting operations were supported by helicopters from the Federal Police and German Armed Forces, which dropped water from the fire. In addition, a police water cannon and a large fire extinguisher of a special company were used. According to the district, tanks and helicopters were used to fight the flames in the central area potentially contaminated with ammunition from the fire zone, which was closed to emergency services. According to the fire department, the tank was also used to protect a gas pipeline and cut the forest.

Still not clear

For an all-clear, it is still too early. The forest fire broke out Thursday of an initially unknown cause and had spread according to authorities on an area of ​​40 to 50 hectares. Because of the motorway closures, there were long traffic jams. The supply of water for extinction was also difficult. According to the Fire Department, among other things, a line of pipes nearly five kilometers long had to be installed