The Berlin fire brigade is making progress in the fight against the flames in Grunewald. However, the blast site where the fires started is still difficult to access. A demolition expert should now approach the square in an armored vehicle and create a picture of the situation.
Large parts of the fire in Berlin's Grunewald have now been extinguished - according to the fire brigade, the local blasting site is still a big problem. During the night, the fire brigade fought the wildfires in the vicinity of the square. "These fires have almost been extinguished since this morning," said fire department spokesman Thomas Kirstein. There are only a few embers and small fires on the ground. According to this, it had burned in a total area of about 42 hectares.
The focus of the work is now the blasting site, around which a 1,000 meter radius exclusion zone was drawn to avoid the risk of an explosion. "We have to expect that detonations and debris will continue to fly," the fire department said.
The goal is to get a more accurate picture of the situation from the blast site in the morning, Kirstein said after the briefing of the fire brigade, police and army in the morning. The police demolition expert should drive up to the detonation site in a Bundeswehr armored vehicle and get a first impression of the external border and make an assessment. This plan was canceled on Thursday evening.
In addition, the fire brigade has requested a fire fighting vehicle from a private company, which is used in areas with a risk of explosion, said Kirstein. In addition, three robots from Lower Saxony, which can also extinguish, are to drive into the restricted area in the direction of the explosives site. Other armored recovery vehicles of the Bundeswehr are also deployed.
Kirstein emphasized that this fire was a "very special situation and challenge" for the fire department. 150 firefighters are also on duty. The freshening of the wind in the morning is unfavorable because there is a risk that the fire will flare up again.
The fire brigade hopes to be able to open the Avus motorway and train traffic in southwest Berlin again during the day. This also depends on the situation picture that is now to be created, Kirstein told RBB.
