Large parts of the fire in Berlin’s Grunewald have now been extinguished, but according to the fire brigade, the local blasting site is still a big problem. During the night she fought the wildfires around the square. “These fires have almost been extinguished since this morning,” said a fire department spokesman. There are only a few embers and small fires on the ground. The Avus Autobahn in southwest Berlin will remain closed. Train traffic is also further affected by the traffic restrictions.
According to the fire brigade, there was a fire in an area totaling around 42 hectares. The focus of the work is now the blasting site, around which a 1,000 meter radius exclusion zone was drawn to avoid the risk of an explosion. “We have to expect that detonations and debris will continue to fly,” the fire department said.
The aim is to get a more accurate picture of the situation at the blast site in the morning, said a spokesman after a morning meeting between the fire brigade, police and army. The police demolition expert is supposed to drive to the site in a Bundeswehr armored vehicle, get a first impression of the outer border and make an assessment. This project was canceled on Thursday evening.
In addition, the fire brigade requested a fire fighting vehicle from a private company, which is used in areas where there is a risk of explosion. Three robots from Lower Saxony, which can also extinguish, should drive into the restricted area in the direction of the explosives site. Other special vehicles of the Bundeswehr are also used. A spokesman said 150 firefighters were still on duty. The freshening of the wind on Friday morning is unfavorable because there is a risk that the fire will flare up again.
Two extinguishing robots are ready for use at Grunewald.
(Photo: Christophe Gateau/dpa)
In the course of the major fire, the Avus motorway and train routes were closed on Thursday. The fire brigade hopes to be able to release these again during the course of the day. “The big goal is to gain knowledge on the blasting site during the morning,” said a spokesman. “The lockdown also depends on this.”
The fire broke out early Thursday morning. Explosions could be heard before sunrise, and flames were blazing in the area around the blast site in Grunewald. The cause of the fire is still unclear – and also the question of whether it burned first or exploded first. During Thursday, the fire spread significantly in the dry forest area. Adjacent woodland was watered by the fire brigade. According to them, residential areas are not in danger, the nearest residential buildings are at least two kilometers away.