Overview

• Hundreds of firefighters, helicopters and Bundeswehr vehicles remain deployed against uncontrolled blazes in the Gohrischheide and on the Saalfelder Höhe.
• Disaster declarations cover parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia as crews wrestle with wind-driven flare-ups and difficult terrain littered with unexploded ordnance.
• Vehicle fires in underground garages at Norderstedt, Wedel and a courtyard blaze in Altona have been extinguished and are now under police investigation for possible arson or negligence.
• A 120,000 m² field fire near Celle sparked by children playing with a lighter was contained, and a 35 ha blaze in Obernaundorf forced about 35 residents to evacuate before crews brought it under control.
• Meteorologists warn that brief heat waves and patchy rainfall have extended Germany’s tinder-dry wildfire season, prompting officials to urge strict adherence to open-flame bans.