“There is of course an enormous danger there,” said fire department spokesman Thomas Kirstein on Saturday in Berlin. There are three hotspots defined by the demolition expert on the blasting site. “They are now cooled with robot technology.” Armored vehicles and robots are used for this.
One problem is the extreme temperatures, up to 700 degrees were measured on Friday. Kirstein did not want to give any information about new measurements. “It’s under constant surveillance,” he said. This is included in the assessment. The declared goal is to limit the restricted area of currently 1,000 meters around the blasting site. This depends on how the explosives expert assesses the danger of the heat on the explosive device for ammunition and ordnance stored there.
The nearby Avus city highway and railway line remained closed. “Bahnverkehr and Avus are in a circle of 1,000 meters, but relatively on the edge,” said Kirstein. The aim is to at least release rail traffic because the route runs “at the outermost edge of the circle”.
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The fire was prevented from spreading in the surrounding forest during the night. “We kept extinguishing smaller fire nests,” Kirstein said. The situation immediately around the blasting site must be constantly reassessed, for example whether it is also possible to use the fire brigade. “But that first requires a bit more safety at the blasting site.”
The fire brigade had already imposed a safety radius of 1,000 meters around the site on Thursday. The railway line between the main train stations in Berlin and Potsdam is closed because of the operation. S-Bahn trains are affected, as are regional trains, IC and ICE.
Source: Nachrichten
