Firefighters battle out-of-control blaze at Berlin ammunitions dump

BERLIN (Reuters) – More than 100 firefighters battled on Thursday to contain a fire that triggered explosions and burned out of control after it broke out at an ammunitions dump in western Berlin, officials said.

The fire service set up a perimeter zone 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) from the centre of the blaze, which it said had spread across 15,000 square metres of Grunewald, a forested area of upscale villas and swimming lakes as well as the sealed-off dump.

Firefighters were unable to reach the source of the blaze due to several explosions at the bomb disposal site.

“There are no active fire-fighting measures at the moment,” a fire service spokesperson told Reuters. “The safety of our emergency forces comes first.”

The fire service later said on Twitter that it had requested a fire-fighting helicopter and armoured vehicles from the Bundeswehr army to help battle the fire.

Firefighters laid hoses to bring large volumes of water to the site, and police said they had supplied water cannon.

Berlin frequently carries out bomb disposal operations as explosives are still being discovered from World War Two. The Grunewald site is used to defuse such old munitions, as well as weapons and fireworks, a fire department spokesperson said.

It has been in operation since 1950 and is equipped with fire alarm systems and a firebreak that is several metres wide, police said on Twitter. The explosives stored there were being continuously sprinkled with water.

The fire service spokesperson said no residential areas were affected.

Berlin is experiencing a heatwave. Weather service DWD forecast Thursday as one of the hottest days of the year with temperatures expected to reach between 34 and 38 degrees Celsius.

Germany has also been tackling wildfires at its border with Czech Republic for over a week.

A dozen European countries have suffered major blazes this year, forcing thousands to evacuate and destroying homes and businesses. Countries including Italy, Spain and France still face extreme fire risk.

Data published on Thursday showed that this summer’s European wildfires have burned the second-largest area on record.

(Reporting by Rachel More and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Miranda Murray, Bill Rigby and John Stonestreet)