Further progress was made in fighting the largest forest fire ever recorded in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday, with helicopters sent home in the early evening.
A spokeswoman for the district of Düren explained that there was currently no longer any need for them. In a statement, the district described the situation as “stable” and said emergency services were “cautiously optimistic.”
More than 1,400 firefighters have been battling the blaze in the Hürtgen forest since Thursday afternoon. According to the district authorities, around 300 hectares of woodland were affected by the fire.
“The night was good,” Düren district administrator Ralf Nolten told dpa in the morning, citing much progress in containing the record fire since Friday.
“Yesterday morning there was a real struggle, and now it is controlled work.”
German army units used armoured recovery vehicles to cut more wide firebreaks into the area overnight to prevent the main fire from spreading to other areas.
Residents of the village of Gey were allowed to return home on Saturday evening after a decision by the district administrator. The 1,800 residents had been forced to evacuate the area during Thursday night as the fire spread within 250 metres of residential properties.
However, around 20 kilometres away, residents of several settlements were urged to prepare for possible evacuations due to another wildfire across the border in Belgium. That fire has engulfed an area of around 2,000 hectares, the Belga news agency reported, citing the regional government.
Threat from unexploded WWII ordnance
Fire-fighting efforts in North Rhine-Westphalia have been complicated by the threat of explosions from ordnance still buried in the forest from World War II.
The area was the scene of heavy fighting between German and US troops in 1944-45 during the Ardennes counter-offensive, also known as the Battle of the Bulge.
“The site is very difficult to access, and because of the high concentration of ammunition, we cannot send individual firefighters in with firefighting backpacks either,” Nolten said earlier, adding that some of the rounds have exploded due to the heat.
The cause of the fire is not known, but police have set up a portal for witnesses to submit tips.
Germany, like many countries in the European Union and the United Kingdom, is currently fighting forest fires in different locations due to the exceptional summer heat and drought.