natural disasters
Rain curbs forest fires in Brandenburg
The blue light of a fire engine shines in the early morning hours in the forest between Treuenbriezen and Beelitz. Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The fire roller came up to 200 meters from residential buildings: from the point of view of the state government, the forest fires in Brandenburg were extremely dangerous at the weekend. But then the rain came to my rescue.
Breathe a sigh of relief after the dramatic fight against forest fires in Brandenburg: Heavy rain helped the fire brigade near Beelitz and Treuenbrietzen, southwest of Berlin, to extinguish the fire.
Hundreds of people were able to return to their homes, which had been evacuated as a precaution, on Monday. This was announced by the local authorities. But hundreds of forces were still in action. The main concern: wind could fan embers again.
At the weekend, two large forest areas burned about 20 kilometers apart in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district. Huge plumes of smoke hung over the area. With changing winds, the fires spread so that both districts of Treuenbrietzen and streets of Beelitz were evacuated as a precaution. Around 200 hectares of forest burned – an area the size of almost 300 football pitches.
Situation still very dangerous
The situation was extremely dangerous and highly dramatic, said Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) on Monday during another visit to the fire area. A barrage of fire was only stopped 200 meters before the first residential buildings in Beelitz. The city of Beelitz wrote on its website that the night was also very exhausting for the emergency services. “Superhuman things have been achieved here in just a few hours.”
On Monday morning, Beelitz Mayor Bernhard Knuth said: “It looks much more relaxed.” There are still some fire and embers, but people can go back to their homes. “All evacuations and roadblocks have been lifted.”
The spokesman for the local situation center, Jan Penkawa, also said for Treuenbrietzen that the fires in the area had been extinguished except for a few embers. 620 people could return to their homes in the Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunn districts. Seven residents had stayed in the emergency accommodation in the town hall, the others had found private accommodation.
“There is really no longer any danger for the villages,” said the spokeswoman for the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, Andrea Metzler. On Sunday, however, the situation was “really extreme”. However, embers could last three to four weeks in the ground because they are up to 70 centimeters deep. “It’s madness, really,” said Metzler. In the heat and wind, the fires could flare up again.
Also Bundeswehr in action
On Monday, 469 emergency services were still on site near Treuenbrietzen, as Martin Griebel from the local crisis center said. In Beelitz there were 330 that night. At the top, over 1,400 people were deployed at the weekend.
Interior Minister Stübgen praised the Bundeswehr’s quick help over the weekend with five fire-fighting helicopters: “We are very grateful to the Bundeswehr for reacting so quickly,” said Stübgen.
Extinguishing the fire area around Treuenbrietzen is particularly difficult because ammunition and explosive ordnance lie in the ground of a former blasting and training area. The firefighters cannot approach the fire directly. Therefore had to be extinguished from the air.
The city of Treuenbrietzen thanked its citizens “for their extremely cooperative and disciplined behavior despite the circumstances”. Some of the people had had to leave their homes for the second time – after a forest fire that was also large on 400 hectares in 2018.
This included Anita Laatz, a resident of Frohnsdorf. When she returned on Monday, she said that with such an evacuation, you don’t know what it will look like when you come back: “You haven’t slept at night, you’re just restless.” Looking at her suitcase, she said: “Now shall I unpack it again, or shall I leave it? It’s supposed to be warm again.”
As a result of the forest fires, classes at some schools were canceled on Monday, according to the Ministry of Education in Potsdam. These included the Albert Schweitzer elementary school and comprehensive school in Treuenbrietzen and three institutions in Beelitz – namely the Diesterweg elementary school, Solar high school and the Sally-Bein-Gymnasium.