First German villagers after forest fires at home

treuenbrietzen - Some of the people who had to leave their homes because of the large forest fire in southwest Brandenburg can return home. The evacuation of the village of Frohnsdorf was lifted on Friday afternoon, said Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke of the German state during a visit to the area.

The residents of the other two evacuated villages, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen, still have to be patient. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said there were still three fireplaces. 'The situation is not relaxed yet. 'No rain is expected and the wind stirs.

The fire brigade did manage to protect the threatened villages on Friday and it was possible to control a large part of the fire there. About six hundred firefighters are busy. Helicopters are also used. The extinguishing activities are made more difficult by the many ammunition that is in the ground in the area. 'We can not access it in some places,' said a spokesperson.

The fire broke out on Thursday afternoon due to unknown causes and spread rapidly, partly due to the drought that also prevails in East Germany. Approximately five hundred residents of the three endangered villages had to leave their homes in the course of the evening because of the fire, about 50 kilometers south of Berlin.

'We have already had a number of major forest fires in the region, but we have not experienced a fire of this size and as it rages between the villages,' said Michael Handsome, mayor of the nearby town of Treuenbrietzen. Thirty people stay in an emergency shelter in the town hall. Most of the evacuated villagers stayed with family or friends.

Because of the southwest wind the smoke clouds crossed Berlin on Friday morning. According to the fire department, the streets of the German capital were a bit misty from the smoke.