Out of control is still raging Fire which erupted at dawn in the Grunewald forest west of Berlin as a result of an explosion at a police station for the storage and disposal of explosives. According to the fire department, there are no casualties, nothing threatens residential areas, but continuous explosions make the work of firefighters extremely difficult, and the situation is aggravated by the high temperatures of recent days.

The first explosion occurred at 03:30 in an area where police collect, control and destroy illegal explosives. At the time of the explosion, it is possible that there were even 50 tons of explosives in the area, a fire department spokesman said, explaining that controlled blasting stops in June due to the high risk of forest fires in the summer. A police helicopter and drone are monitoring the situation, armed forces are also on the scene using heavy equipment, and firefighters are spraying the forest within a radius of 1,000 meters from the fire. Temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius are expected in the area today, but the wind is weak.

Authorities have notified residents of the wider area to keep doors and windows closed and ventilation and air conditioning systems turned off. In addition, traffic on adjacent roads and railways was disrupted.

“The forest is dry. It hasn’t recovered from the last few dry spells,” said Jan Thomsen, an official with the State Department of Environment and Climate, who, when asked if the forest was suitable for an explosives cache, stressed that safety issues would be resolved once the cause of the fire is clarified.

Source: RES-IPE