Fire in the Grunewald forest in Berlin: the fire continues to burn, Avus remains closed

The fire in Berlin's Grunewald forest is still not under control, and the Avus city highway remains closed.

Fire in the Grunewald forest in Berlin: the fire continues to burn, Avus remains closed

The fire in Berlin's Grunewald forest is still not under control, and the Avus city highway remains closed. That was decided in the morning. Nevertheless, the situation is stable. Now the aim of the fire brigade is to get closer to the detonation site.

The Berlin Autobahn Avus remains closed due to the fire in Grunewald. The fire brigade justified this with the still dangerous situation. The aim is now to reduce the danger zone. On the other hand, trains have been running again since Saturday on the railway line, which runs parallel to the motorway but at a slightly greater distance from the forest fire. Meanwhile, the firefighting continues. During the day, firefighters want to try to get closer to the blast site where the fire broke out. It's no longer burning there, but the ground is still extremely hot. The situation in the area of ​​operations is stable, but not yet under control, it said.

The area around the blasting site is therefore still "the focus of operations par excellence," said fire brigade spokesman Thomas Kirstein. The emergency services continue to try to cool the ground there. Among other things, a fire fighting vehicle and remote-controlled firefighting robots would be used because entering the area is life-threatening for firefighters.

"By cooling, we hope to get a good prognosis that the blocking circuit can be reduced at some point during the day," says Kirstein. Then the AVUS could be released again. "But I'll say it very clearly, we're proceeding prudently. The danger that still exists from the ammunition and ordnance should not be underestimated." Therefore patience is required. If an explosive device explodes, parts of it could injure emergency services or be thrown onto the freeway and then affect motorists.

The fire in Grunewald broke out on Thursday night. There had been fire and explosions on the site of the detonation site, where tons of old grenades, ammunition and confiscated fireworks were stored in buildings. The detonation site for the destruction of weapons and explosives has existed since 1950.

According to the fire brigade, the fire continues to burn in the forest, there are still several embers. "They don't necessarily cause us construction pains, but they have to be worked on during the day. That's the big goal, that we'll get closer to the blasting site," said the fire department spokesman. The emergency services observed the situation overnight, but no extinguishing work took place in the dark.

Given the events, there is debate as to whether the blast site is in the right place. In the short term, Brandenburg will help out with the disposal of explosive ordnance, said Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger, on Sunday evening on RBB. When discussing long-term cooperation between the two countries in the disposal of explosive ordnance, the SPD politician said that after the current operation, the cause would first be clarified.

"I don't want to drive a 500-pound bomb for over 1.5 hours on any highway," she added. 70 years ago they thought something when choosing the location for the blasting site. Since this is not close to residential areas, the safety of Berliners and the security forces can be guaranteed.