More than 2,000 people evacuated their homes in western Germany on Friday, after a wildfire near the Belgian border spread towards a village, local authorities said.
Residents were asked to leave their homes in the village of Gey at around 4:00 a.m. and go to an assistance center set up at a primary school in a nearby village, they said in a statement.
They were urged to carry only essential belongings, identification papers and necessary medicines.
"At about four o’clock we got a message via the app saying we had to leave the place straight away," resident Leo Braun told Reuters. "So we gathered our things, which we'd already packed beforehand, and then fled."
"This forest fire threatens to hit the local community hard," Mona Neubaur, deputy premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, posted on X/Twitter.
Mayor Stephan Cranen said that although the evacuation was complete, the situation remained critical and the flames were now around 300 meters from the village, regional public broadcaster WDR reported.
Cranen was quoted as saying one of the wildfires that remain out of control had spread overnight towards a former munitions depot in the nearby town of Dueren.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was being "kept constantly informed of developments," adding that the federal police and the Bundeswehr were providing assistance where possible.
Unexploded WWII ammunition causes detonations in German wildfire
There is unexploded World War Two ammunition in parts of the surrounding forest because the hilly terrain prevented complete clearance of the area, and occasional detonations were heard during the wildfire, firefighters were quoted as saying.
About 300 hectares were burning as two German army tanks helped firefighters by clearing access routes through the forest area that were difficult to reach.
Large swathes of Germany are tackling dry conditions and high risks of forest fires.
The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in cooperation with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post maintains all editorial decisions related to the content.
