Avus and rail traffic will remain closed at least until Saturday
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imago images/Christian Ender
–Video: rbb24 evening show | 05.08.2022 | A. Breitfeld | Bild: imago images/Christian Ender
The fire brigade has made progress in the extinguishing work in Grunewald. However, she still has no access to the blast site where the fire broke out. The restricted area of 1,000 meters will therefore remain in place at least until Saturday.
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– Avus and train traffic closed at least until Saturday
– The situation is to be reassessed on Saturday morning
– Part of the fire extinguished
– Areas of the blast site up to 700 degrees hot
– WWII bombs need to be cooled
– Detonations and flying debris still possible
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The flames in Berlin’s Grunewald have largely been extinguished, but the blast site is not yet certain. Karsten Homrighausen, state fire director of the Berlin fire brigade, explained this on Friday evening in the rbb24 evening show. That is why the blocking of the Avus and train traffic will continue.
The situation is to be reassessed on Saturday morning, as the Berlin fire department announced on Twitter late Friday evening. Accordingly, the restricted area of 1,000 meters will remain in place at least until Saturday morning.
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The fire spread through the forest on Thursday from a police detonation site. The fire brigade has imposed a safety radius of 1,000 meters. This also applies to the A115 motorway and the S7 S-Bahn line that runs parallel to it.
The Berlin fire brigade had already declared on Friday morning that the fires had almost been extinguished. But the ground is still up to 700 degrees hot in some places. According to Karsten Homrighausen, three main areas of risk have also been identified. The aim is to professionally cool the danger areas in order to then further reduce the blocking circle around the fire.
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Fire brigade cools heated World War II bombs
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz added that two World War II bombs, each weighing 250 kilograms, were thrown out of their holders when they detonated. They did not explode, but got very hot and had to be cooled.
The same applies to other areas on the large site. “Only when these dangers have been averted can the restricted area be reduced accordingly, but it is far from being lifted because the area has not yet been fully explored,” says Cablitz.
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special equipment in action
Brigadier General Jürgen Karl Uchtmann said on Friday that the Bundeswehr had a Dachs armored engineer vehicle ready for further work. The vehicle is an armored, very all-terrain excavator. As early as Thursday, a Bundeswehr armored recovery vehicle cut a five-kilometer aisle “which, due to its size, can be used by the Berlin population as beautiful cycling and hiking trails after this crisis,” said Uchtmann.
The fire brigade is also on duty in the dangerous area with armored recovery vehicles and remote-controlled robots – including the “Alpha Wolf R1”. This could both explore the place and delete it. On Thursday, the remote-controlled robot “tEODor” was also out exploring in the forest.
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| Bild: rbb/Poppendieck
So far no measures on the blasting site itself
According to fire brigade spokesman Thomas Kirstein, the emergency services came within 500 meters of the blast site during their extinguishing work. This is “a good development”. According to this, it had burned in a total area of about 42 hectares. On Thursday evening there was talk of 50 hectares either burning or heavily smoked.
According to Kirstein, no measures could be taken at the blast site itself. One must expect that there will continue to be detonations and flying debris, it said.
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The fire broke out early Thursday morning
The fire broke out early Thursday morning. Explosions could be heard before sunrise, and flames were blazing on and around the blast site in Grunewald. The fire spread significantly throughout the day in the dry forest area.
The Sperrkreise was set up because of the danger of bomb splinters flying far away. According to the police, around 30 tons of munitions and ammunition from the Second World War and several hundred kilograms of fireworks, which were confiscated on New Year’s Eve, were stored on the large area of the detonation site. These stocks are blown up at regular intervals, most recently in March and April. To be on the safe side, the stocks stored are “permanently rained on”. There is also a fire protection concept, fire protection corridors and a fire alarm system.
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The cause of the fire remains unclear
According to the Berlin fire brigade, the cause of the fire in Grunewald is still unclear. Berlin’s chief of police, Barbara Slowik, said on Friday on Inforadio that fighting the fire has priority over investigating the cause of the fire. The police detonation site in Grunewald is well secured. There are fences, surveillance technology and around the clock property protection with on-site personnel.
The location of the detonation site in the middle of the local recreation area has been a subject of debate in the House of Representatives for decades. On Thursday, there were renewed calls to find a new blasting site outside of the city together with Brandenburg [mehr dazu lesen Sie hier].
Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik openly advocated moving the explosive site in Grunewald on Friday morning. So far, however, there is no other system in Berlin that can be approved, Slowik said on Inforadio. They work closely with Brandenburg on this topic, but have not yet found any other option. Slowik pointed out that only a third of the ordnance in Berlin had been cleared. When disposing of World War II bombs, for example, the shortest possible transport routes are important.
The Berlin Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) announced on Thursday during a visit to the scene of the fire that she wanted to talk to the Berlin police about the location of the explosive site.
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Broadcast: rbb24 evening show, August 5th, 2022, 7:30 p.m
