Firefighters fought against a massive wildfire that burned a nature reserve in eastern Belgium and another on a Greek island near Athens. The fires occurred on Sunday amid hot and dry conditions that have fueled wildfires across parts of Europe.
In eastern Belgium, a blaze engulfed approximately 30 square kilometers in the High Fens, a significant nature reserve, marking one of the country’s most severe wildfires in recent memory. Around 600 residents in the nearby municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach were instructed to evacuate as winds shifted and smoke permeated the area. Authorities also advised tourists to leave the area, while a nearby gymnasium was opened to accommodate evacuees.
Hervé Jamar, the provincial governor of Liège, stated on Sunday that more than 250 emergency personnel, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, as well as police, military officers, and civil protection staff, have been mobilized. Firefighting helicopters operated by Belgium’s federal police and the Netherlands also provided assistance.
In Greece, the coast guard reported that an elderly couple perished outside their home on the island of Salamina, located west of Athens where a fire originated. Over 500 individuals were rescued from the island. The fire occurred during Greece’s peak summer holiday weekend around the Aug. 15 Assumption holiday, a time when many Athenians visit nearby islands such as Salamina, easily accessible from the capital’s main port of Piraeus. Several houses were damaged, and five individuals were taken to a health clinic.
A significant deployment of approximately 192 firefighters, 14 aircraft and helicopters, volunteer crews, and municipal water tankers was undertaken to contain the blazes. Coast guard and firefighting vessels were dispatched to the island, with preparations made for potential sea evacuations from endangered coastal regions. Salamina was under a high wildfire risk warning, with the cause of the fires remaining unknown.
The wildfire currently ravaging Belgium has eclipsed a 2011 fire that burned nearly 14 square kilometers in the same area, previously the country’s largest recorded wildfire. Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia, indicated that conditions were notably worse this time due to extremely dry soil.
René Dahmen, chief engineer at the Department of Nature and Forests, highlighted that the fire was still spreading on Sunday in a challenging-to-reach area. Interior Minister Bernard Quintin confirmed that firefighters successfully prevented the fire from spreading westward toward the German town of Monschau, with local authorities in Germany cautioning that the fire was approximately 1.5 kilometers from the border.
Belgium activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to receive assistance from other countries. Sweden dispatched two water-bombing aircraft, while three helicopters from the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were also deployed. The fires follow a period of unusually hot and dry weather, complicating containment efforts in the High Fens’ combination of heathland and peat bogs.
In France, authorities estimated that about 17 square kilometers were burned in a wildfire in the southwestern Landes region. Emergency crews in the United Kingdom were combating 14 wildfires in South Wales with military support, as officials warned of ongoing high wildfire risks despite easing heat wave conditions. Additionally, in Germany, firefighters made substantial progress in containing a wildfire in the Hürtgen Forest, allowing evacuated residents to return home.
The global community has been actively engaging in firefighting efforts across Europe to combat the increasing threat of wildfires caused by the prevailing hot and dry weather conditions.
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