Firefighters worked Saturday to contain a wildfire in the High Fens, Belgium's largest nature reserve. The blaze, which began on Friday, led local officials to order the evacuation of two nearby villages. Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Wallonia regional authorities, described the event as the country's largest fire in recent history.
The fire has consumed one-third of the nature reserve, which is located near Belgium's eastern border with Germany. Officials noted that the park's terrain, characterized by forests, moorland, and bog-like territory, has made the area difficult to access. As of Saturday afternoon, local officials reported that the fire remained out of control.
Belgium activated the European Union's civil protection mechanism to request international assistance. Hadja Lahbib, a European Commissioner, stated that two water-bombing aircraft from Sweden and two helicopters—one from the Netherlands and one from the Czech Republic—were deployed to the scene. Regional authorities opened a gymnasium to house residents who were forced to leave their homes.
The scale of the emergency has required the mobilization of over 500 firefighters in France and the activation of international aid for Belgium. For residents, this means a reliance on emergency services and international aircraft to protect private property and public land. The fires follow a period that the Copernicus climate monitoring service confirmed as the hottest June-to-July on record for western Europe. Residents in affected regions will notice significant changes to the landscape and potential long-term impacts on the local ecology of the High Fens reserve.
The knock-on effects include the strain on European emergency resources as multiple countries, including Croatia, Spain, and Serbia, also reported forest fires starting Friday. This widespread activity necessitates the coordination of the European Union's civil protection mechanism to share limited aerial firefighting assets across borders. What happens next depends on weather conditions and containment efforts. Firefighters reported that shifting winds have already complicated their mission. No specific date for the expected containment of the High Fens fire or the return of evacuated residents has been provided by authorities.