Berlin, Aug 4 (AFP/APP): An “unprecedented” fire broke out Thursday around a German police munitions storage site in a popular forest in western Berlin, sending plumes of smoke into the skies and setting off a series of explosions.
The fire began in the Grunewald forest in the early hours of the morning, with residents reporting a series of explosions.
Firefighters were initially unable to tackle the blaze directly due to the danger of further blasts, with emergency services setting up a 1,000-metre (3,280-foot) safety zone around the site.
Around 250 emergency personnel were deployed to the site.
The fire had spread across 50 hectares by the evening, according to police, but the emergency services were hoping to bring it under control overnight.
The most dangerous zones have been identified and firefighters have been cleared to proceed to within 500 metres of the blaze in some areas, they said.
The army had earlier sent in a tank aimed at evacuating munitions at the affected storage site as well as remote-controlled de-mining robots, while drones circled the air to assess the emergency.
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