A forest and peat bog fire near the northern German city of Rostock has led to a large-scale fire brigade operation.
About 20 fire engines with about 160 personnel were at the scene on Tuesday near Göldenitz and Teschow to the south of the city, according to a spokeswoman for the Rostock district.
The fire is not yet under control, she said, but villages are not threatened at the moment. According to reports, Teschow is most likely to be at risk.
Police asked residents to keep the windows and doors of their homes closed. Roads near the fire have been closed.
Bog areas are considered particularly difficult to extinguish as flames can spread below the surface. Firefighters are apparently gearing up for a lengthy operation.
According to the district spokeswoman, preparations were made in the afternoon for the replacement of the task forces that had been there since the beginning.
Till Backhaus, the agriculture minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in which Rostock is located, rushed to the scene of the fire in the afternoon. According to him, the forest area where the fire is burning is 160 hectares in size. It is now necessary to see how far the fire spreads, he said.
"We hope that it can be kept in check," Backhaus told dpa. The area is a wet lowland moor with alders and ash trees as well as reeds.
According to the district, the fire broke out on wasteland and later spread to the nearby forest. There was initially no information on the cause of the fire.
