Berlin forest fire triggered by WWII ammunition dump blasts

Explosions at a WWII bomb disposal website ignited a blaze in certainly one of Berlin’s largest metropolis forests.

GERMANY FOREST FIRE
Smoke rises from a forest hearth in Berlin, Germany, on August 4, 2022 [Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE]

A big hearth has damaged out in certainly one of Berlin’s largest metropolis forests, triggered by a number of explosions at a bomb disposal website contained in the forest on one of many hottest days of the 12 months to date.

Greater than 100 firefighters had been battling the blaze that has unfold throughout 1.5 hectares (about 3.7 acres) within the German capital’s Grunewald forest on Thursday, the Berlin hearth division and a German information company reported.

The hearth was spreading shortly and big explosions could possibly be heard from a website throughout the forest the place previous ammunition from World Struggle II, fireworks and explosive ordnance are saved and managed explosions are carried out.

“The scenario is harmful,” Thomas Kirstein from the Berlin hearth division informed reporters.

“The hearth is just not below management, the forest is burning uncontrollably.”

Kirstein mentioned it was not clear what had triggered the primary explosions on the ammunition dump earlier on Thursday.

He referred to as on residents to steer clear of the forest.

Authorities in Berlin continuously perform bomb disposal operations on account of explosive ordnance nonetheless being found from World Struggle II.

 

As a result of hazard from flying particles and the specter of additional explosions, the fireplace division mentioned it had not but begun to systematically extinguish the forest hearth as emergency providers needed to maintain a distance of 1 kilometre (greater than half a mile) from the flames.

Firefighters deployed to the world had been dousing the forest outdoors the exclusion zone with water to forestall the blaze from spreading additional.

Plans are additionally below strategy to fly a drone over the ammunition dump to report aerial photos in an effort to higher choose the scenario.

“The plan is to get a brand new scenario evaluation from the blast website – initially from the air,” Kirstein mentioned, including that fireplace providers hoped to entry the world with armoured automobiles later within the day.

Berlin authorities referred to as for extra assist to assist extinguish the flames, together with particular forces from the German military.

Water cannon and particular evacuation tanks had been additionally due on the scene.

 

A commuter prepare service to Berlin’s west was partially interrupted and one of many metropolis’s most vital highways, the Avus, was closed due to the blaze.

Houses weren't instantly threatened by the flames however the hearth division warned that the fireplace may additional unfold as a result of dry circumstances within the forest and the distinctive warmth that was anticipated on Thursday with temperatures of as much as 38 levels Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) forecast for Berlin.

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