Largest forest fire in Belgium's history engulfs 1,600 hectares... Urgent European reinforcements to extinguish it
Belgium is facing one of the most severe wildfires in its history, as flames have consumed approximately 1,600 hectares in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve in the east of the country since they broke out on Friday. This has prompted authorities to request urgent European assistance and to bolster firefighting efforts both by air and on the ground.
EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič said on Saturday that the bloc had deployed three helicopters and two water-dropping aircraft to help combat the blaze, in response to a Belgian request for emergency reinforcements to control the largest fire the country has seen in decades.
The fire continues to rage in the Hautes Fagnes, Belgium’s largest nature reserve, with firefighters, military personnel, and farmers participating in containment efforts.
A spokesperson for the Belgian Walloon Region administration told Reuters that the fires had consumed around 1,600 hectares from their onset through the afternoon of Saturday.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, the blaze is now the largest in Belgium’s history, surpassing a 2011 fire that consumed approximately 1,400 hectares.
Local authorities on Saturday urged residents of the village of Sprimont to prepare for the possibility of evacuation. Meanwhile, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced on the X platform that authorities were working to evacuate a summer camp for children in the area.
Belgium, along with other European countries, is experiencing its fifth heatwave of the summer, exacerbating hot and dry conditions that facilitate the spread of major wildfires. Scientists say that climate change driven by human activities is increasing weather conditions conducive to the ignition of fires, helping them spread rapidly and persist for longer periods.
The European Union coordinates the dispatch of additional resources from European countries when one member state requests emergency assistance. Lenarčič clarified that the aircraft sent to Belgium came from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
