Smoke from forest fire in Gohrischheide spreads to Berlin, prompting alert on warning app
The Gohrischheide forest fire, situated on the border between Saxony and Brandenburg, remains a critical and large-scale emergency as of early July 2025.
### Current Status and Extent
The fire, which started on Tuesday, July 1st, near a former military training area in Gohrischheide, has reportedly affected around 1,000 hectares of land due to shifting winds and challenging conditions. The situation remains out of control, with the fire continuing to spread, exacerbated by recent drought, heat, and strong winds.
### Impact and Evacuations
Over 1,000 firefighters are engaged in battling the blaze, one of the largest firefighting deployments in the region recently. Two firefighters, one male and one female, were severely injured with burns during the operations. Several villages have been evacuated, including Wülknitz, Neudorf, parts of Heidehäuser, and Lichtensee.
### Response Efforts
Firefighters face challenges accessing parts of the fire due to the risk of detonating buried munitions in the former military training ground. Helicopters equipped with thermal imaging and special cameras are deployed to identify and target hotspots from the air. Military helicopters have been requested to assist alongside police aviation units.
### Environmental and Weather Conditions
The fire is fueled by ongoing heatwave conditions and drought affecting Germany and surrounding regions. Despite some rainfall on July 3rd, the fire remains uncontrollable. The German Weather Service warns of a continued risk of additional wildfires over the weekend with improving conditions expected next week.
### Additional Information
In Saxony, no water-bombing helicopters or water cannons are mentioned as being deployed for the firefighting efforts. However, four water-bombing helicopters and two water cannons are deployed for the firefighting efforts in Brandenburg. The local police and fire services, as well as the federal police, are providing support for the firefighting efforts in both regions.
Specialists for combating vegetation fires were requested from Saxony-Anhalt to aid in the efforts. The situation in Saxony is reportedly stable, but a larger contingent is to be deployed there again and extinguished from the air.
Martin Neumann, the operations leader of the Verbandsgemeinde Liebenwerda, reported that the situation in Brandenburg was stable in the morning. However, he warned that the situation could become more critical in the afternoon if the wind increases from a southerly direction and temperatures rise. Corresponding warnings were issued via the Nina and Mowas warning apps.
If the wind turns over the Gohrischheide, Brandenburg may be threatened. According to Neumann, the situation in southern Brandenburg is dramatic. The fire in the Gohrischheide is now detectable in parts of Brandenburg and southern Berlin. The Nina warning app issued a warning for increased smoke and odor pollution in the Brandenburg districts of Elbe-Elster, Dahme-Spree, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, and Teltow-Fläming.
The district called for a state of catastrophe on Thursday. No mention of the situation in Saxony becoming more critical if the wind increases from a southerly direction and temperatures rise. No special warnings were issued via the Nina or Mowas warning apps for the forest fire in Saxony.
- Despite efforts from environmental science specialists and over 1,000 firefighters, the Gohrischheide forest fire, instigated by general-news-worthy weather conditions such as drought and heat, continues to spread, threatening neighboring Brandenburg.
- The environmental-science implications of the Gohrischheide forest fire are significant, as it exacerbates existing challenges to the local ecosystem, fueled by ongoing heatwave conditions and drought.
- The sports of the firefighters battling the Gohrischheide forest fire are hindered by challenging weather conditions, including strong winds, and the potential danger of detonating buried munitions in the former military training ground.
