A forest fire near Gransee/Schönermark causes more smoke to develop. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance announced in an official warning that the cloud of smoke was moving into downtown Gransee.
30 hectares of fields and 20 hectares of forest are affected, said Deputy Forest Fire Protection Officer Philipp Haase on Monday. It is estimated that up to 120 emergency services are on site, said a spokesman for the Northeast regional control center when asked. The field fire is already under control, the fire in the forest area is not yet.
Among other things, special vehicles are to be used to fight forest fires, the RBB reported.
Residents of Gransee, which is north of Berlin, are asked to keep the emergency numbers for the fire brigade and police free for emergency calls. Windows and doors should remain closed and air conditioning systems should be switched off. If possible, the area should be bypassed or avoided as far as possible.
The sometimes gusty wind coming from the south fanned the flames, reports the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung. The fire had reached the first treetops, the integrated regional control center north-east based in Eberswalde told the newspaper
However, houses are not in danger at the moment and evacuations are not necessary. The residents of Rauschendorf and Altlüdersdorf in particular are asked to keep windows and doors closed because the wind transports most of the smoke north.
The emergency services of the fire brigade in Brandenburg are currently fighting several forest fires – some of which were caused by arson. The police said that this was the case with a series of fires in the Oranienburg area (Oberhavel).
Within a few days there had been numerous small fires in close proximity to each other. Traces have been secured, said Christin Knospe, spokeswoman for the police department north of the German Press Agency on Monday. “We check the connections.”
According to the Ministry of the Environment, human activity causes more than 90 percent of all forest fires with up to 99 percent of the areas damaged by forest fires. “That causes us massive problems,” reported Deputy Forest Fire Protection Officer Philipp Haase on Monday.
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According to the Ministry of the Environment, the highest level of forest fire risk was five in almost the entire country on Monday. Only in Potsdam-Mittelmark was the second highest level four. Brandenburg has a forest area of around 1.1 million hectares.
In the Lieberoser Heide, the emergency services are still doing post-extinguishing work after the big fire on an area of 90 hectares three weeks ago. There are still up to 20 smaller fires, said Haase.