Unexploded Bombs Hinder Firefighters in German National Park Blaze

A wildfire in Mueritz National Park, northern Germany, has spread to about 150 hectares, but firefighters are forced to stay at least 1,000 meters away due to unexploded munitions from an abandoned military training ground buried in the soil. The Mecklenburg Seenplatte district officials said emergency services cannot actively extinguish the fire because of the safety distance, which also prevents helicopter water drops as the aircraft would have to fly too high. District spokesman Marten Schroeder explained that the wind would blow water off course if dropped from such altitude. A village was evacuated for a second time as the flames spread. The fire is in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.