A forest fire broke out near Plettenberg in the Märkisches Kreis on Monday. According to official information, firefighters from the entire district were on duty. The police supported the extinguishing work with a helicopter, meanwhile, according to media reports, the situation has eased somewhat.
According to the German Press Agency (dpa), a forest area of around 3,000 square meters initially burned in the Bommecke-Tal nature reserve there. The extension was later given as 10,000 to 30,000 square meters. The problem is that the fire area is in an area that is difficult to access and the fire broke out in twelve different places, according to a WDR report. The cause of the fire was previously unknown, flying sparks were suspected in the media.
Residential development in the Sauerland area was not threatened, people were not in danger, said a police spokeswoman on Monday afternoon. According to current information from the "Meinerzhagener Zeitung", the extinguishing work continued throughout Tuesday night. This was necessary because fires had broken out in the treetops, fire chief Nils Kohlhage told the newspaper. According to the WDR, the fire brigade now hopes to be able to extinguish the fires by Tuesday noon. Task forces fought the last glutesters, it said in the morning on WDR.
The forest fire near Plettenberg is just one of several that have recently occurred in Germany. With the current hot and dry weather, the risk of forest fires remains high in many parts of the country.
The map shows the current forecast. Click to go to the provider "Wetter.de"
On Monday, four days after a fire broke out at a blast site in Berlin's Grunewald, the situation remained tense. The A115 motorway (Avus) initially remained closed, the fire brigade decided. A fire had also recently broken out in the Saxon Switzerland National Park and had not been extinguished until recently.
Sources: dpa, local news from Meinerzhagen - come-on.de, WDR, "Bild.de"
