The situation in the two major forest fire areas in south-west Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania remained stable overnight thanks to the lack of wind. The fire areas near Lübtheen and Hagenow had not spread further in the past few hours, a spokesman for the Ludwigslust-Parchim district said early Tuesday morning to the German Press Agency.
By late evening they had reached an area of around 100 hectares near Lübtheen and 35 hectares near Hagenow. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) wanted to get an idea of the situation in Lübtheen in the morning. State Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) and Interior Minister Christian level (SPD) had already arrived on Monday.
Meanwhile, according to the police, there were two other fires in the district. On Monday evening, a fire broke out in around one hectare of forest near Crivitz and on Tuesday morning in around 6000 square meters of forest near Boizenburg. Both fires are already under control, it said.
village evacuated
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. How long the evacuation will last 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.
According to the district spokesman on Tuesday morning, many firefighters are on site to extinguish if the wind picks up again and the flames continue to drive towards the site. A dpa reporter reported early Tuesday morning that a forest near the village was being watered.
Detonations also at night
The two larger 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. There were also detonations. These could still be heard on Tuesday night and early in the morning, as dpa reporters reported.
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. District Administrator Sternberg also emphasized in his video that one should not do “tourism” to the fires. That applies to both Lübtheen and Hagenow. According to the police on Monday evening, onlookers were occasionally found on the edge of the areas affected by the fires.
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.
