A large forest and field fire broke out south of Rehfeld in the Elbe-Elster district (Brandenburg) - a wind farm was affected. The fire spread from initially 10 hectares early Monday afternoon to around 100 hectares within a very short time, as the district announced on Monday.
The fire was still not under control by evening. The use of the fire brigade will last all night, said a spokesman for the Elbe-Elster district. Storm gusts in particular prevented the emergency services from bringing the flames under control, it said. "We have a very dynamic situation," said the spokesman.
The fire was classified as a major damage situation, so the district took over the management of the operation. The administrative staff of the district ordered the evacuation of Rehfeld in the early evening. Around 200 people were affected. Later, this precautionary measure would also be ordered for Kölsa and Kölsa-Siedlung in the city of Falkenberg (Elster), it said. Around 400 people are affected there.
According to the information, there is a fire in the forest between wind turbines. At least one system is within the fire area, other wind turbines are at risk, reported the deputy forest fire protection officer Philipp Haase on Monday of the German Press Agency. There is a lot of smoke that can be seen from afar, Haase described.
The fire brigade also fought a fire on around 60 hectares of fields and forest near Gransee, north of Berlin in the Oberhavel district. It was contained and is now under control, Haase said. It is estimated that up to 100 emergency services were on site, as a spokesman for the Northeast regional control center announced. There is still remedial work to be done. A police helicopter flew over the area with a thermal imaging camera.
The biggest forest fire of the year so far in Elbe-Elster and Brandenburg occurred at the end of June on the border with Saxony in Gohrischheide - around 20 kilometers away. The fire had spread in the direction of Mühlberg (Elbe-Elster) in Brandenburg. More than 800 hectares were at times in flames. The locations of Kröbeln and Kosilenzien in the town of Bad Liebenwerda had to be evacuated in the meantime.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the highest forest fire risk level five applied in almost the entire state of Brandenburg on Monday. Only in Potsdam-Mittelmark was the second highest level four. Brandenburg has a forest area of around 1.1 million hectares.
