BERLIN, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of German firefighters continued to battle a massive forest fire near Berlin on Friday.
Residents of the German capital were told to keep their windows shut as clouds of smoke could be seen drifting over the city in the morning hours. However, the odds that the forest fire would spread further are now seen as low due to favorable wind conditions which are assisting the efforts of roughly 600 deployed fire fighters.
Officials have highlighted the unprecedented scale of the natural catastrophe. "We have had some big forest fires in the past, but nothing of this dimension where it moves between different localities," Michael Knappe, mayor of Treuenbrietzen, told the press.
Treuenbrietzen is one of several towns in the South West of the state of Brandenburg where residents had to evacuate abruptly on Thursday night as the fire engulfed an area covering around 400 hectares, the equivalent of 400 soccer pitches.
"Our primary objective is still to protect the evacuated towns from the flames," said Christian Stein (CDU), deputy county commissioner for the Potsdam-Mittelmark district. Stein noted that although the forest fire was not contained yet, human settlement areas had so far been spared from the brunt of the resulting material damage.
Firefighters told the press that inaccessible roads and explosion risks from scattered World War II ammunitions posed a severe challenge in navigating the forest terrain. As a consequence, the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and federal police had been called in to offer air support with helicopters.
Like much of northern and eastern Germany this summer, southwestern Brandenburg has experienced an extreme drought during recent weeks. Authorities have repeatedly warned that the hot and dry conditions would increase the likelihood of forest fires breaking out and spreading quickly.
"I hope that the weather plays along and the wind doesn't regain force," said deputy county commissioner Stein. He added that his district on the outskirts of Berlin "desperately longed for rain."
According to the German Meteorological Service (DWD), the affected region can only expect to witness limited rainfall on Friday. Nevertheless, Karl-Heinz Schroeter (SPD), state interior minister of Brandenburg, expressed confidence that residents would be able to return to their homes in the course of the day as long as the wind conditions remained calm. "Large parts (of the fire) are under control," Schroeter said.
In any case, residents will continue to have to contend with severe disruptions to local transport. Most regional train connections have been cancelled until further notice and many roads are closed.
