extinguishing work
Forest fires near Jüterbog and Rostock: the situation calms down
View of the forest fire area in Jüterbog from a federal police helicopter. photo
© –/Federal Police/dpa
A fire broke out in a forest near Jüterbog in Brandenburg last week. Only now is the situation calming down – and Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir is calling for caution in the forest.
Wooded areas near Jüterbog south of Berlin continue to burn, but the fire is no longer spreading. The size of the affected forest area has not changed since Thursday, says the head of the regulatory office, Christiane Lindner-Klopsch. The situation has therefore calmed down further.
It is said to be less smoke. According to Lindner-Klopsch, the flames should be extinguished again from the air. Most recently, a federal police helicopter and a fire-fighting aircraft were deployed.
There has been a fire in the munitions-loaded area since May 31. The fire brigade cannot get to the source of the fire directly because of the risk of explosion on the former military training area. Villages are not in danger. Strong winds fueled the forest fire again on Wednesday. The affected area doubled to more than 600 hectares. That is more than twice the area of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam and more than three times the area of Tiergarten in Berlin. The forest fire area is made up of areas that have already been burned and the areas that are currently burning.
Embers near Rostock are watered
In the Rostock district, the fire brigade continues to fight the fire in a forest and moor area near Göldenitz south of Rostock. According to district fire chief Mayk Tessin, embers in the area that is difficult to access should be watered again and thus finally extinguished. Help from the Bundeswehr firefighting helicopters is expected again, as a district spokeswoman says.
The fire broke out on Tuesday morning on wasteland near Göldenitz and had spread to around ten hectares of forest and the neighboring moor area. A large-scale operation by the fire brigade prevented towns from having to be evacuated. The cause of the fire is still unclear.
Özdemir: “Sparks can ignite a sea of flames”
In view of the current risk of fire, Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir warns against lighting fires or throwing away cigarette butts in forests. “Even a spark can ignite a sea of flames,” said the Green politician to the editorial network Germany (RND). “The forest has already been severely damaged by drought and heat – we all have a responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t suffer any more damage.”
The effects of the climate crisis, which is increasingly affecting the forests, are also problematic and conducive to fire. “Forest fires can spread even more easily in the already damaged forests,” Özdemir explained. Adapting forests to climate change could help: “That means above all: away from monocultures and towards near-natural mixed forests, which are more resilient to extreme weather conditions due to their biodiversity and nature.”