ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE WEATHER CHANNEL –German firefighters battling a large inferno in a forest southwest of Berlin faced an added challenge in recent days: buried, exploding World War II ammunition that was being set off by the wildfire.

According to the Weather Channel, the fire sent thick smoke toward Berlin and forced several nearby villages to evacuate. As crews began to get better control of the fire, one such village, Frohnsdorf, was removed from the evacuation orders, but authorities were still concerned about two other evacuated villages, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.

As the blaze grew in size it detonated ammunition several times, keeping firefighters from entering some areas of the forest.

“The ammunition is very dangerous because one cannot step on the ground, and therefore one cannot get close to the fire” to extinguish it, Brandenburg state’s governor, Dietmar Woidke, told reporters.

More than 600 firefighters and soldiers were brought in to battle the wildfire, cutting trees to make long firebreaks. Several roads were closed, and local trains halted service in the area close to the fire.

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