BERLIN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- State prosecutors have launched a formal investigation on Thursday into a major fire which spread rapidly across swamplands at an armed forces (Bundeswehr) training site in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany.
Alexander Retemeyer, a spokesperson for the Osnabrueck State Prosecution Office, told press that the fire which engulfed an area equivalent to more than 1,000 football pitches following rocket testing activities merited closer judicial scrutiny.
"Fire-related offenses, especially arson and potentially also environmental offenses (on behalf of Bundeswehr staff) come into question when protected areas such as nature reserves are affected", Retemayer said.
Earlier, Stephan Weil, governor of Lower Saxony, and his regional minister for the environment Olaf Lies, both publicly questioned whether soldiers involved in the operation had demonstrated an appropriate level of care during the rocket launches in light of an unusually dry and hot summer and reported that the army's own fire engine was not operational at the time.
The Bundeswehr has issued an apology for the incident and any resulting disruption caused to local residents, while highlighting that smoke pollution levels were still below regulatory limits. A comprehensive internal investigation of the fire is scheduled to commence shortly.
By now, the fire in question has already been burning for two weeks and was temporarily even visible from space in satellite images. The German military has used the restricted area near the town of Meppen for artillery testing purposes since 1876, a circumstance which has complicated the efforts of firefighters subsequently called to the burning swamplands.
Due to suspected remnants of munitions which could still be live, not all parts of the military site can be accessed. As of Thursday morning (CET), there were still 1,000 firefighters deployed in a local operation to put out the fire.
A spokesperson for the Bundeswehr told press that the situation was currently under control.
