Firefighters make progress with forest fire outside Berlin

BERLIN – German authorities say they’re making progress fighting a major forest fire some 50 kilometres (30 miles) outside Berlin, but an area around two evacuated villages remains a source of concern.

The blaze near the town of Treuenbrietzen started Thursday afternoon and spread quickly through bone-dry pine forests. It has at times sent smoke toward the German capital.

A senior local official in Potsdam-Mittelmark county, Christian Stein, said Saturday that “we managed during the night to get a grip on the fire,” with some large areas extinguished. But he said that, around the villages of Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen, the blaze is still flaring up.

Inhabitants were allowed Friday to return to a third village, Frohnsdorf.

Firefighters have to manoeuvr carefully because old World War II ammunition is still buried in the region.