dryness
Forest fire situation in Brandenburg is deteriorating
The night sky is illuminated red by the fire of a forest fire near the small town of Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg. Photo: Christian Guttmann/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg the forest is on fire again. Four years ago, more than 500 people had to leave their villages there because of this. Now it is possible to evacuate again.
The forest fire situation in the Brandenburg town of Treuenbrietzen got worse on Saturday evening. The district administrator of the Potsdam-Mittelmark district had declared the disaster, said a spokesman for the regional control center of the fire brigade in Brandenburg/Havel.
The district announced that due to the increasing smoke development, the residents of Tiefenbrunnen – part of the town of Treuenbrietzen – may have to be temporarily evacuated for reasons of caution.
The Bundeswehr took part in fighting the forest fire with a transport helicopter. The Air Force of the Bundeswehr wrote on Twitter of 40,000 liters of water in eight rounds. “We started a firefighting operation with a CH-53 from Holzdorf.” The district had submitted an application for administrative assistance to help fight the forest fire, the Air Force tweeted. “We continue to fly tonight, then with night vision goggles. Full commitment!»
On Friday, a forest fire broke out on about 60 hectares, on Saturday it was still a good 40 hectares. During the day it was initially said that the situation was stable.
In 2018, around 400 hectares of forest were destroyed in a forest fire in Treuenbrietzen. Flames raged in the forest southwest of Berlin for several days. Due to the major fire, more than 500 people had to leave the villages of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.
In all districts in Brandenburg, the highest forest fire danger level 5 applied on Saturday. Smaller fires were also registered in many places.