Fire brigade operation: Fire fighters in Wahner Heide near Cologne take a break overnight
Fighting in the Wahner Heide east of Cologne Fire department continues to fight a forest fire. According to the Rösrath fire department, the fire broke out there on Monday and spread to 500 square meters of forest area. However, the firefighting work had to be interrupted overnight: a helicopter could no longer be used due to the darkness, as the fire department announced shortly before midnight. There is also a suspicion that there are dangerous remains of ammunition and unexploded ordnance from the Second World War hidden in the ground of the former military training area, which could explode.
Even before dusk, the conditions had prevented direct intervention by the fire department. “As long as a threat from possible ammunition cannot be ruled out, we will not send emergency services to this area,” explained the head of the Rösrath fire department, Bastian Eltner.
The focus is on protecting the emergency services and nature, so the main aim is to prevent the flames from spreading further. Emergency services from the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis were supposed to take over the fire watch overnight until extinguishing work could be resumed around 6 a.m.
Cologne-Bonn Airport not affected
The fire, which was reported on Monday afternoon, continued to spread and around 200 emergency services were on site late in the evening. A firefighting helicopter supported the firefighting from the air.
According to the fire department, there is no danger to the population. The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis nevertheless issued a warning via official channels such as the Nina warning app: The area should be avoided and not entered, according to the message that has been in effect since Monday evening.
The Wahner Heide in Rösrath borders Cologne-Bonn Airport directly to the east. According to the fire department, flight operations there are not affected. According to the airport’s website, planes continued to take off and land as planned late Monday evening.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:260707-930-344287/1