Belgium is fighting its largest wildfire on record as a massive blaze in the High Fens nature reserve has burned through 2,700 hectares of vegetation, forcing evacuations of villages and a children’s summer camp in the eastern province of Liege.
The fire, which broke out on Friday, has been spreading east towards the German border. By early Sunday, it had nearly doubled in size from 1,600 hectares earlier in the day, according to the office of the governor of Liege. That makes it by far the biggest wildfire in Belgian history, nearly double the previous record of close to 1,400 hectares set in 2011, data from the European Forest Fire Information System showed.
EU Deploys Emergency Resources
The European Union activated its emergency coordination mechanism, deploying three helicopters and two water-bomber aircraft to assist Belgian firefighters. The aircraft were sourced from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands, EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said in a post on X.
Firefighters from across Belgium, as well as from neighbouring Germany and Luxembourg, have been battling the blaze alongside the Belgian army and local farmers. Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken confirmed the evacuation of a children’s summer camp and advised tourists in the area to leave, citing changing winds and thick smoke.
Local authorities asked residents of several villages to evacuate their homes as a precaution on Saturday, as shifting wind patterns created unpredictable fire behaviour across the rugged terrain of the nature reserve.
The High Fens, known in French as Hautes Fagnes, is a protected upland area straddling the Belgian-German border. The terrain has made it difficult for emergency services to attack the fire at close range using their usual resources, the Liege governor’s office noted.
Record Heatwave Fuels Blazes
The wildfire comes as European countries, including Belgium, suffered their fifth heatwave of the summer this week. Scientists say human-caused climate change has increased the likelihood of the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to spread faster and burn longer. The blaze is one of several across Europe in recent days, with a separate fire in Landes in southwestern France forcing 650 residents from their homes after it reignited on Saturday.
The EU co-ordinates the deployment of extra resources pooled from European countries when a member state requests emergency assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The rapid mobilisation of aircraft from three countries underscored the scale of the crisis facing Belgian authorities.
Firefighting operations are ongoing, with crews working to prevent the blaze from crossing into German territory. Authorities have not yet announced when the fire might be contained, as the combination of dry vegetation, steep terrain, and continued high temperatures presents ongoing challenges.
Sources: Al Jazeera; Australian Associated Press; European Forest Fire Information System; RTBF
discussion