Huge wildfire spreads southwest of Berlin

Firefighters battle a wildfire near the village Klausdorf, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Berlin. Photo / AP

Three villages southwest of Berlin have been evacuated as a wildfire the size of 400 football fields spread yesterday.

More than 500 people had to leave their homes as a result of the fire in Treuenbrietzen, about 50km outside of Berlin.

"Our main goal is to protect the evacuated villages from the flames," local lawmaker Christian Stein told the German news agency dpa.

"We haven't been able to push back the fire, but none of the buildings have been damaged."

Police said that their plans to extinguish the flames had been complicated by old ammunition from World War II, that was still buried in the forests and which could explode due to the fires.

Stein said there had already been several detonations and that firefighters were not allowed to enter suspicious areas. Instead, the authorities were trying to douse the flames in those areas with firefighting helicopters from the air.

The fire started on Thursday and spread quickly through the dry pine forests. By the evening, the authorities had evacuated the villages of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.

- AP