EU sends aircraft as Belgium fights record wildfire
The blaze has burned 1,600 hectares and could become Belgium’s largest on record, officials said, as firefighters and farmers battle the flames.
- On Saturday, the European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft to tackle a massive wildfire raging in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve after authorities requested emergency assistance.
- Data from the European Forest Fire Information System indicates the fire has consumed 1,600 hectares, becoming the largest on record in Belgium and surpassing a 2011 fire that burned nearly 1,400 hectares.
- Battling the blaze since Friday, local firefighters, farmers, and the army are pumping water from nearby lakes while attempting to contain the flames within the Hautes Fagnes reserve.
- EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbib announced aircraft from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands arrived to bolster the response, as the European Union coordinates pooled resources for member nations.
- Belgium recently suffered its fifth heatwave of the summer, creating dry conditions that scientists confirm increase fire-prone weather, allowing wildfires to spread faster and burn longer across the region.
115 Articles
115 Articles
Belgium races to tame huge wildfire creeping towards Germany
Water-bombing aircraft and farmers' tractors joined forces Sunday to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which has scorched vast swathes of a hard-to-reach nature reserve near the German border.
EU sends aircraft to tackle Belgium's biggest wildfire on record
The European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft to tackle Belgium's biggest wildfire on record on Saturday, as local authorities told residents in some villages to leave their homes.The blaze in the High Fens, a nature reserve
The peat fire in the High Fens nature park in eastern Belgium, which started on Friday, now covers more than 3,000 hectares. The conditions for firefighting are very complex, Walloon authorities report. For instance, the wind direction last night was not very strong, but it was particularly changeable.
Air support kicks in as record Belgian wildfire jumps in size
Crucial air support swung into action Sunday to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which has mushroomed in size since breaking out two days ago in a hard-to-access nature reserve.
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