Belgian officials said on Sunday, August 16, that the size of the wildfire in the country’s largest nature reserve, High Fens, has more than doubled within 24 hours, burning an area of about 3000 hectares. The wildfire, which broke out on Friday, August 14, has become the largest wildfire on record in Belgium and is spreading towards the German border. Belgium has urgently requested assistance, and the European Union is providing crucial aerial firefighting support.
Over 250 firefighters and emergency personnel have been battling relentlessly near the German border in the High Fens nature reserve to prevent the wildfire from spreading. Firefighters mentioned on Sunday that they are mainly relying on aircraft to control the blaze. Following Belgium’s request for emergency reinforcements, the EU has deployed multiple firefighting planes from various European countries.
In addition to firefighters, Belgian military personnel and farmers have also joined the firefighting efforts. Firefighting helicopters from the Netherlands are providing support on-site, while firefighters from Germany and Luxembourg are assisting in containing the fire. More helicopters from the Czech Republic and Sweden are expected to join the firefighting operation later on Sunday.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever expressed his gratitude on X platform, stating, “Thank you to our European partners for providing assistance.”
Stephanie Ernoux, spokesperson for the Walloon Region government of Belgium, stated that on Sunday firefighters were focusing on controlling the fire line spreading towards Germany.
On Saturday, August 15, some residents in the province of Liège, Belgium, were asked to evacuate their homes. Local media reported that a total of 600 people were instructed to leave, and authorities set up a temporary shelter in a sports hall in the nearby city of Malmedy.
“We never thought Belgium would suffer from a wildfire of this scale. Now, we have to face the reality,” said Karim Bouarfa, the firefighting team leader who was still battling the blaze on Saturday night, talking to Reuters.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, this wildfire is the largest on record in Belgium, with an area more than twice the size of a fire that burned nearly 1400 hectares in 2011.
Nicolas Yernaux, spokesperson for the public service department of the Walloon Region of Belgium, stated that the situation this time is much worse.
“We are facing a deeper issue because the soil is extremely dry,” he said.
This summer, Europe has been experiencing heatwaves and drought, leading to extremely dry vegetation and rampant wildfires. France, Spain, Germany, Greece, and Croatia have already forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. On Sunday, French firefighters were still combatting multiple wildfires, one of which was approaching the Belgian border. Meanwhile, 100 French firefighters were heading to the Aragon region of Spain to assist in extinguishing a large fire that has already devoured 16,600 hectares of land.
Sunday saw a deadly wildfire on Salamina Island in Greece resulting in two fatalities. Firefighters and coast guard ships evacuated around 500 beachgoers from the area.