Great fire in Brandenburg: Fire brigade fights against fire on ammunition site!

Great fire in Brandenburg: Fire brigade fights against fire on ammunition site!

Horstwalde, Deutschland - last night, on July 1, 2025, a considerable forest fire broke out on a ammunition-contaminated area near Horstwalde, Teltow-Flemming. How maz-online.de reported, the fire report was sent to the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr (BAM) at around 8 p.m. A massive column of smoke was visible to Potsdam, which alerted the fire alarm center in the city.

The situation required immediate measures: The crisis staff of the Brandenburg Ministry of the Interior and the district of Teltow-Fläming were immediately informed. The first estimates reported around 2000 square meters of burning forest area, but it quickly turned out that the actual spread was far greater. Numerous firefighters and emergency vehicles were on site and specialized forest fire units from the district were alerted.

dangerous circumstances and challenges

The fight against the fire is particularly challenging, since the fire site may contain remnant of ammunition that is a serious risk of explosion. Firefighters therefore had to form base positions and delete them from a safe distance. Observation drones were used to precisely grasp the extent of the fire. The police are also on site and conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire, although it is currently unclear whether natural inflammation or human failure is responsible.

The dangers due to the rapid spread and the risk of explosion should not be underestimated. Experts draw attention to the fact that Brandenburg has a high density of ammunition -contaminated areas. Around 575,000 hectares, about 20 % of the country area, were classified as suspicious of orders; There are 300,000 hectares in the forest. The state is the most affected by old ammunition in Germany. Since 2002, the ten largest forest fires in Brandenburg performed exclusively on such ammunition polluted areas.

The location in Brandenburg

Due to the weathering of old ammunition, the risk of self -inflammation increases. In 2019, 63 % of the forest areas that caught fire in Brandenburg were affected by such ignition cases. The remains of earlier military activities make fire fighting more difficult because emergency services must comply with a minimum distance of 500 meters to endangered zones. In this context, the Erwin project conducts extensive analyzes and develops recommendations for action for prevention and stemmunition.

Federal Ministry also support the project, which includes measures for early ordnance removal and the establishment of buffer zones. The combination of military contaminated sites and increasing forest fire threats is a challenge that is of great importance not only for the fire brigade, but for the entire region.

Although the extinguishing work is currently underway, it remains to be seen how long it will take to control the fire completely. With all these challenges, it is essential to put the security of all emergency services in the first place and to react appropriately.