BERLIN, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- German authorities have declared a regional state of emergency in Lower Saxony on Friday in response to a massive swampland fire which has been raging for more than two weeks.
"Given the weather conditions which are approaching us now, it is possible that the fire could be further stoked by winds," Hanko Thiess, the director of an official crisis committee which has been created in response to the incident, told press.
On Friday morning, the German Meteorological Service (DWD) recorded gusts with strengths of up to 85 kilometers per hour, further complicating the efforts of firefighters who are still battling the flames in a restricted military area near the town of Meppen.
The fire first broke out following rocket testing activities by the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) and has since spread to an area equivalent to more than 1,000 football pitches.
The Bundeswehr has used the restricted area near the town of Meppen for artillery testing purposes almost continuously since 1876. As a consequence, firefighters cannot access all parts of the government owned site due to risks stemming from suspected remnants of munitions which could still be live.
Reinhard Winter, a council member of the most-heavily affected Emsland district in Lower Saxony, said that a necessary evacuation of the two towns Gross Stavern and Klein Stavern with around 1,000 inhabitants could no longer be ruled out.
The Bundeswehr has issued a public apology for the incident and any resulting disruption caused to local residents. It emphasized that levels of resulting smoke pollution remained below regulatory and hence did not pose any health risks. However, several medical experts cited by the public broadcaster "NDR" contradicted such re-assuring statements concerning the effect of smoke which has travelled as far as 100 kilometers from the original site.
Klaus Rabe of the Grosshansdorf Lung Clinic emphasized that "enormous amounts of gaseous elements and particulates have been released" by the swampland fire. These were particularly dangerous for people with lung diseases nearby, and "probably also for people at a greater distance (from the fire)."
Responding to the medical warning, Meta Janssen-Kucz (Greens), the vice-president of the Lower Saxon regional assembly, described the claims by the armed forces that no harm was associated with the clouds of smoke as being "scandalous." Earlier, governor Stephan Weil (SPD) 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 summer.
Meanwhile, the Osnabrueck State Prosecution Office has announced that it will launch a formal investigation into the matter.
As of Friday, there were still hundreds of firefighters working around the clock to regain control of the situation in the swamplands near Meppen. Defense minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) is expected to visit the affected area on Saturday.
