emergencies
Fire in the Grunewald: the situation is easing, further closures
Firefighting vehicles are on the exit of the A115 motorway with flashing blue lights. photo
© Gerald Matzka/dpa
After the fire in Grunewald has largely been extinguished, a decision will be made today on whether the route can continue to be used. The ground on the site is still up to 700 degrees hot in some places.
The fire in the Grunewald forest in Berlin has not been completely extinguished even two days after it broke out – the nearby Avus city motorway and the railway line remain closed. According to the fire brigade, a decision on when and whether the routes can be opened can be expected around Saturday noon at the earliest.
It continues to burn at the blast site, but only within a defined area. Smaller fires would be extinguished there. There are currently no major sources of fire in the forest outside the blast site.
In the night to Saturday there were no more explosions, it was said. Remote-controlled robots to explore the exclusion zone were withdrawn due to the more relaxed situation at night. Exploration of the area should be resumed on Saturday morning.
Although the flames around the Grunewald site have largely been extinguished, the danger has not yet been banned, especially for the emergency services. According to the police, the ground on the site there was still up to 700 degrees hot in some places on Friday. To reduce the risk of further explosions from remains of ammunition, these areas must be cooled with water. The fire brigade and a special company used a fire fighting vehicle. Some storage sites for dangerous explosives have always been constantly cooled with water, nothing happened there.