Berlin Philharmonic fire damage not worst feared

BERLIN (Reuters) - The Berlin Philharmonic will probably be able to hold concerts in its landmark building again in a few days after damage from Tuesday's fire proved much less serious than feared, fire brigade officials said on Wednesday.

Around 170 firefighters and more than 30 vehicles were deployed through the night to fight the blaze at the home of the orchestra, which broke out under the roof during an afternoon concert.

Firefighters peeled back sections of the slanted roof using saws to get closer to the fire, which sent banks of thick smoke billowing across central Berlin and nearby Potsdamer Platz.

A spokesman for the Berlin fire brigade said on Wednesday the fire was now completely extinguished and scarcely any water had penetrated the main concert hall, which is renowned for its fine acoustics.

As much as a third of the roof, or around 1,600 square meters (17,200 square feet) of space, had been affected by the flames and heat, but if engineers detect no serious structural damage concerts could restart in a few days, he added.

"It's not possible to gauge the cost of the damage at this stage but it's certainly in the millions of euros," the spokesman said, adding that building work in the roof was the likely cause of the fire.

No one was injured in the incident and musicians were able to save their instruments.

The orchestra, which was founded more than 120 years ago, is regarded as one of the world's most prestigious and Britain's Simon Rattle is currently its principal conductor.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, writing by Iain Rogers, editing by Paul Casciato)