Brandenburg
Jüterbog: fight against forest fire on ex-troop training area
The situation has worsened with the forest fire that has been raging for days. photo
© Cevin Dettlaff/dpa
Flames blaze in the forest near Jüterbog in Brandenburg, clouds of smoke rise. The extinguishing operation of the fire brigade is difficult because of the ammunition load. A quick end is not in sight.
The forest fire on a former military training area near Jüterbog in Brandenburg will continue to occupy the emergency services on Sunday – for the fifth day in a row. The situation had worsened on Saturday, and a quick end to the firefighting operation is not foreseeable. The area affected by the flames has increased significantly. There are now over 150 hectares, said a city spokeswoman on Saturday evening. In the morning it was said that there was a fire on a total of 45 hectares.
The fire brigade is trying to stop the fire that started on Wednesday from the ground – not an easy task due to the ammunition load in the area. Because the risk of explosion is too great, the emergency services are still unable to get to the fire in the forest. “One is frustrated,” said operations manager Rico Walentin. His prognosis: “If the weather stays like this, we expect it to spread further.” However, the nearest towns are still far away.
The fire brigade operation was interrupted on Sunday night. The owner of the area took over the fire watch. The fire brigade will be back around 9 a.m. on Sunday, Walentin said.
The fire brigade is trying to stop the fire on the so-called forest fire protection strips, said the head of the public order office, Christiane Lindner-Klopsch, as a spokeswoman for the city. These are about 30 meters wide aisles in the forest, also with driveways.
The area affected by the forest fire is part of a large area owned by the Brandenburg Natural Landscape Foundation. It secures former military training areas for nature conservation. The managing director of the Foundation for Natural Landscapes, Andreas Meißner, said that the “heart” of the wilderness area was affected. From a nature conservation point of view, it is very unfortunate that the areas would burn again.
At the same time, the fire brigade had to fight a fire in Kloster Zinna, a district of the small town of Jüterbog, on Saturday. Four hectares were affected there, said head of operations Walentin. “The fire is out now, but the thick floor is still smoking. A lot of water has to be on the surface.”