The smoke column can even be seen on satellite photo's: a peat fire on part of the German army in Meppen may make evacuations necessary. Lower Saxony has made preparations for the evacuation of hundreds of inhabitants, should the situation get worse.

In the light of the unclear development it was not possible to say which areas could be concrete, according to the expert in the field of fire safety and disaster prevention of the Lower Saxon Ministry of the Interior, Klaus Wickboldt. It is currently expected that it will take another week or two to stifle all embers.

On a satellite image from Tuesday afternoon, the direction of the north-panning smoke column was clearly visible, said the German weather service. At night there was a strong smell of fire and obstruction in the northwest of Lower Saxony and more than a hundred kilometers away in Bremen. On Wednesday, the impact was mainly limited to the environment.

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photo & # 39; s Moorbrand on Bundeswehr site:

Smoke cloud over Lower Saxony



The German federal forces have announced a comprehensive overview of the two-week rocket fire test. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense told the newspaper "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" that the Bundeswehr would investigate internally whether the test violated applicable rules or abused discretionary powers. One would also like to examine the question of whether there are gaps in the fire safety regulations.

The Bundeswehr is due to the fire in the criticism. The Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) Emsland criticized that even rocket trials took place on the dry terrain. The Greens in the Lower Saxony Parliament accuse the Bundeswehr of negligence.

According to German forces, an area of ​​about five square kilometers has been affected so far. The fire reaches to a meter deep in the ground and poses major problems for the emergency services (read more here).