Blazes caused by live munitions at US Army base in Bavaria scorch hundreds of acres

Fires that broke out during live-fire training at a sprawling U.S. Army base in the southeastern German state of Bavaria burned hundreds of acres and required helicopters to bring them under control, Army officials said this week.

Four fires burned simultaneously Sunday in different parts of the Grafenwoehr Training Area during live-fire drills, 7th Army Training Command spokeswoman Lacey Justinger said in a statement Monday. 

The Grafenwoehr facility is the Army’s largest permanent training area in Europe. The fires burned about 340 acres in two general locations, Justinger said. That is just under half the size of New York’s Central Park.

U.S. soldiers in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter transport water during fire suppression training at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, in this undated photo. Four fires in the training area over the weekend scorched about 340 acres. (Julian Temblador/U.S. Army)

A Bambi Bucket is suspended from a helicopter during a fire suppression training exercise at the Grafenwoehr Traning Area in Germany on March 24, 2026. Soldiers used Bambi Buckets over the weekend to put out four fires at the training area. (Cody Nelson/U.S. Army)

Live-fire training was suspended and helicopters from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade battled the blazes with Bambi Buckets containing water taken from local freshwater sources, Justinger said.

The fires were extinguished Sunday evening and the training resumed Monday, Justinger said. There were no injuries or damage to infrastructure, she added.

Wildfires are common during live-fire training, especially when high temperatures dry out debris that accumulated over the winter and spring.