In the middle of the heat wave, a forest fire broke out north of Berlin on Wednesday morning. At the height of the federal highway 96 at the entrance to Nassenheide, a piece of forest is on fire. This was announced by the Northeast Integrated Control Center in Brandenburg via the official warning portal on the Internet. No information was initially available on the expansion.
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A lot of smoke is associated with the fire. Residents are asked to keep doors and windows closed. Drivers should exercise particular caution and attention when passing the fire, it said. Nassenheide is north of Oranienburg, a good 20 kilometers from the Berlin city limits.
Because of the high temperatures and persistent drought, the highest forest fire risk level 5 now applies throughout Brandenburg. The Oberhavel district was still level 4 the day before, but the warning has now been tightened here as well.
In the forest fire control center there are always new alarms for smaller fires, the state’s forest fire protection officer, Raimund Engel, reported on Tuesday to the German Press Agency.
Because of the “very high risk of fire”, everything that could lead to a fire in the forest and in the fields should be avoided, according to an official hazard notification. “The smallest spark can trigger a disaster. Human activity causes more than 90 percent of all forest fires.”
