The Berlin sky took on Thursday, August 4 in the morning, exceptional looks in the heart of summer, with wisps of white smoke visible above a large wooded area in the south-west of the capital. A large wildfire was underway following an explosion at a police munitions depot, firefighters said.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in the Grunewald forest, the largest in the German capital. At regular intervals explosions sounded in the morning. The fire is “now well under control”according to the spokesperson for the Berlin fire department. “But the situation is totally unusual because we have ammunition of war” on the site, which prevent relief from being organized in complete serenity, he added.
Very significant resources have been deployed, with 140 firefighters mobilized, German army equipment – with at least one tank to recover explosives -, a robotic armored mine-clearing machine, drones and police helicopters to monitor the area. Firefighters are also bringing water from a nearby river and lake to try to extinguish the flames. “The fire spread over an area of 15,000 square meters, first at a police ammunition and explosives deposit and defusing site, then in the surrounding forest”according to firefighters.
Update: 15,000 square meters of forest burn. The Grunewald explosive site is also affected. Explosions occur. A sp… https://t.co/YWuzjhzpDF
This depot, installed in Grunewald, is responsible for carrying out controlled exhibitions of the devices entrusted to it, including World War II bombs, a legion of which are still buried in the Berlin underground. “We call on people not to enter the forest, there is danger for their lives in the perimeter of the fireaccording to the spokesman for the fire department. We do not yet know what started the fire, the police are investigating. » “The safety of Berliners is not threatened”however, wanted to reassure the regional interior minister, Iris Spranger.
No casualties to report
Several explosions from the ammunition depot were heard, the last by an Agence France-Presse journalist around 11 a.m. This forest fire also caused disruptions in public transport, in particular for several train lines that cross the area. Roads have been closed. However, no homes or people were affected.
It is very rare for the German capital to be the victim of such a fire. But with the drought affecting all of Europe, it is increasingly threatened due to the importance of its wooded areas, a particularity of this metropolis of 4 million inhabitants. Berlin has 29,000 hectares of forest, making it one of the most forested capitals in the world.
Much of it is now dry. Already, all around Berlin, in the Brandenburg region, several forest fires have broken out since the beginning of the summer. One of them ravaged more than 850 hectares.
Southeastern Germany, on the border with the Czech Republic, has been fighting for several days to put out a forest fire. Much of the country is in a state of “extreme drought” or “exceptional”including Berlin, according to the UFZ institute for environmental research.
According to scientists, repeated heat waves are an unequivocal marker of global warming and these heat waves are expected to multiply, lengthen and intensify. The rise in temperatures and the multiplication of heat waves and droughts create ideal conditions for forest fires or bush fires.