A forest fire near to the municipality of Hürtgenwald caused 1,800 to flee their homes when the flames approached the town on Thursday night. Intensive firefighting operations were ongoing on Friday.
All residents of the Gey district in the municipality of Hürtgenwald in North Rhine-Westphalia have been evacuated due to a nearby wildfire.
A spokeswoman for the district of Düren confirmed to the German Press Agency that residents of the district had all left their houses and apartments. Around 1,800 people live in Gey.
The fire continues to spread through the nearby forest. Hundreds of hectares have burned so far.
On Thursday night the fire had come within 200 metres of the district of Gey, triggering evacuations of local residencies.
Hundreds of firefighters had been deployed along with members of the Bundeswehr who were using two tanks to clear paths in the burning forest as well as three firefighting helicopters to support the operation from the air.
Farmers in the region were also helping with tractors and water barrels, according to a WDR liveticker.
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A local primary school and a sports and shooting club are serving as the contact point for the affected residents.
According to local officials, the fire service initially believed the flames were further away from the town, but changing weather conditions overnight worsened the situation.
The cause of the forest fire is not yet known. It is also unclear whether other districts or municipalities will have to be evacuated.
The neighbouring district of Großhau is also considered at risk, although no evacuation order had been issued there at the time of writing.
No injuries have been reported so far.
Authorities remained concerned about the fire’s continued spread.
Hürtgenwald is located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia near the Belgian border and has just under 9,000 inhabitants.
Hürtgenwald-Gey is only about ten kilometres away from the district town of Düren with about 94,000 inhabitants.
With reporting by DPA.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
