fires
Forestry office in Brand im Grunewald: “Forest can handle it”
Rolled up fire hoses from the Berlin fire brigade near the restricted area around the fire site at the Berlin police detonation site. A fire broke out there on August 4th, 2022. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
Blazing flames, columns of smoke and blocked roads – in the middle an ammunition depot. The fire in Grunewald is likely to have caused considerable damage. The State Forest Service is still optimistic.
Two weeks after a fire broke out at a blasting site in Berlin’s Grunewald forest, the destruction in the surrounding forest is not as dramatic as feared. “I know that the forest can deal with such things quite well,” said the head of the state forest office, Gunnar Heyne, on Thursday on RBB Inforadio. Nature will help itself again very quickly. “I do hope that the deciduous trees have survived relatively well, that the oaks will sprout again.” “If it rains again, the forest floor will turn green again very quickly”. But many pine trees have died.
However, the forest in the immediate vicinity of the blasting site will remain closed for a long time because the explosions have thrown pieces of ammunition far and lie there. The collection is a very time-consuming work that can take several years, said Heyne.
The blasting site itself has now been fenced in again by the police. Craftsmen should restore the electricity and water supply. “It’s slowly returning to normal.” The police announced on Wednesday that as part of the clean-up work in the near future they would repeatedly blow up the remains of ammunition or explosives if they were not transportable.
The cause of the fire has not yet been officially determined. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) is investigating whether it was possibly arson. The police stored around 30 tons of old grenades, World War II bombs, ammunition and confiscated fireworks on the blast site. The fire broke out on August 4th. Numerous explosions could be heard. Because of the dangers, the site could not be entered, so extinguishing it took a long time.
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