HUERTGENWALD, Germany, Aug 14 (Reuters) – More than 2,000 people evacuated their homes in western Germany on Friday, after a wildfire near the Belgian border spread towards a village, local authorities said.
Residents were asked to leave their homes in the village of Gey at around 4:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) and go to an assistance centre set up at a primary school in a nearby village, they said in a statement.
They were urged to carry only essential belongings, identification papers and necessary medicines.
“This forest fire threatens to hit the local community hard,” Mona Neubaur, deputy premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, posted on X.
Mayor Stephan Cranen said that although the evacuation was complete, the situation remained critical and the flames were now around 300 metres (1,000 ft) from the village, regional public broadcaster WDR reported.
Cranen was quoted as saying one of the wildfires that remain out of control had spread overnight towards a former munitions depot in the nearby town of Dueren.
There is unexploded World War Two ammunition in parts of the surrounding forest because the hilly terrain prevented complete clearance of the area, and occasional detonations were heard during the wildfire, firefighters were quoted as saying.
About 300 hectares (740 acres) were burning as two German army tanks helped firefighters by clearing access routes through the forest area that were difficult to reach.
Large swathes of Germany are tackling dry conditions and high risks of forest fires.
(Reporting by Friederike Heine in Berlin and Andi Kranz in Huertgenwald, editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sharon Singleton)
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