Heavy rain provided relief in the fight against two large forest fires in Brandenburg early Monday morning.
First, 135 hectares of forest burned at night near Treuenbrietzen - 80 kilometers southwest of Berlin, as local authorities reported.
Shortly after 7:00 a.m. the rain got heavier and heavier.
The rain radar also showed rain and thunderstorms for the next few hours.
Only about 20 kilometers apart, two large forest areas near Treuenbrietzen and Beelitz (both in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district) burned at the weekend.
The clouds of smoke were so dense that, according to the fire brigade, the smell of fire could even be heard in Dresden, a good 100 kilometers further south.
In the case of the forest fire near Treuenbrietzen, 435 emergency services, especially the fire brigade, should be on site on Monday night.
The fire had also spread to 200 hectares in Beelitz on Sunday.
Some streets were evacuated.
The fight against the flames is particularly difficult in the area because ammunition lies in the ground of a former blasting and training area.
The firefighters cannot approach the fire directly.
Bundeswehr helicopters therefore took tens of thousands of liters of water from a nearby quarry pond during dozens of flights and extinguished it from above.