Flames meter high rise between the treetops as a fire engine drives through the wooded area. The pictures of the two big forest fires in the south-west of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania look dramatic, after a relatively quiet night the situation has now partially worsened again. On Tuesday morning, several explosions could be heard near the evacuated village of Volzrade on the former military training area near Lübtheen, which was contaminated with World War I ammunition. In the second large forest fire area near Hagenow, the fire expanded from 35 to 45 hectares overnight, according to the authorities. The fires in the north-eastern state had reached an area of around 100 hectares near Lübtheen and 35 hectares near Hagenow by late Monday evening.
Firefighters also fought the flames in forest fire areas in other regions of Germany on Tuesday. According to the Hochtaunus district, the forest fire that broke out in Hesse on Monday should now “burn down in a controlled manner”. Around four hectares of land are now affected by the fire, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Around 200 firefighters have been back on site in the impassable terrain since 7 a.m. The fire broke out on Monday afternoon northwest of Frankfurt on the Altkönig mountain.
The fire in the Jüterbog forest fire area south of Berlin flared up again on Monday evening. As the head of the Jüterbog regulatory office, Christiane Lindner-Klopsch, said on Tuesday, about two hectares are burning, which are several hundred meters from a protective strip on the edge of the fire area. It can only be extinguished from there when the fire approaches the protective strip. The fire brigade itself cannot enter the fire area because there is still a lot of ammunition in the ground at the former military training area. The fire in Jüterbog broke out for the first time at the end of May. After a major damage situation had been declared in the meantime, this was lifted again on Sunday.
On Tuesday morning, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) got an idea of the situation in Lübtheen. The SPD politician was depressed by the large fire and praised the emergency services for their work. The extinguishing work was a tremendous feat, she said. “Everything goes hand in hand.”
The fire near Lübtheen did not get any closer to the endangered location of Volzrade, a district of Lübtheen, said the spokesman for the district. In the late evening, the flames were about 800 meters from the village, which was evacuated. The approximately 160 residents had to spend the night with friends, relatives or in the small town’s gym. Pictures showed how smoke was wafting through the village and the edge of the forest a few meters from the houses was sprayed with special irrigation technology.
How long the evacuation will remain in place will be decided in the morning, said District Administrator Stefan Sternberg (SPD) at night in a video on the district’s Facebook page. According to Sternberg, firefighting helicopters and a clearing tank for Hagenow had also been requested.
The two fires broke out in quick succession on former military premises on Monday afternoon and, aided by gusty winds, spread quickly. Both areas are contaminated with ammunition. The police warned against entering the forest areas due to the ammunition load and the resulting risk of explosion. She also called for routes to be kept clear for emergency vehicles and not blocked.
In 2019, the largest forest fire in the history of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania raged on almost 1000 hectares on the former military training area near Lübtheen.
The forest fire risk index of the German Weather Service (DWD) has been showing alarming red to dark red spots on the map of Germany for days. The danger is particularly great in the northeast, where the highest warning level five applies in many places.
