Firefighters fought against a massive wildfire that ravaged a natural reserve in eastern Belgium and another on a Greek island close to Athens, resulting in two fatalities on Sunday due to hot and dry conditions that ignited fires across various parts of Europe.
The wildfire in eastern Belgium consumed approximately 30 square kilometers in the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes), a significant natural reserve, marking one of the most severe wildfires in recent history in the country.
Around 600 residents in the adjacent municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, located in Liège province near the German border, were instructed to evacuate on Saturday as winds shifted and smoke blanketed the area. Authorities also recommended tourists to leave, while a nearby gymnasium was made available to accommodate evacuees.
Hervé Jamar, the provincial governor of Liège, stated in a Sunday release that more than 250 emergency responders were mobilized, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, along with police, military personnel, and civil protection staff. Additionally, firefighting helicopters from Belgium’s federal police and the Netherlands were also involved in the operation.
In Greece, the coast guard confirmed the deaths of an elderly couple outside their residence on the island of Salamina, situated west of Athens, near the origin of a fire. Over 500 individuals were rescued from the island, as reported.
The fire broke out during Greece’s busy summer holiday weekend surrounding the Aug. 15 Assumption holiday, a time when many residents of Athens travel to nearby islands like Salamina, easily accessible from the capital’s main port of Piraeus.
Reports indicated damage to houses, with five individuals being transported to a health clinic. Approximately 192 firefighters, 14 aircraft and helicopters, volunteer teams, and municipal water tankers were deployed to manage the blazes.
Coast guard and firefighting vessels were dispatched to the island with arrangements made for potential sea evacuations from threatened coastal regions. Salamina was under a high wildfire risk alert on Sunday, with the cause of the fires yet to be determined.
The ongoing wildfire in Belgium has surpassed a 2011 fire that scorched nearly 14 square kilometers in the same vicinity, previously holding the record as the country’s largest wildfire according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System.
Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia, emphasized the challenging conditions this time around, stating, “We’re dealing with something much deeper because we have very dry soil.”
René Dahmen, chief engineer at the Department of Nature and Forests, mentioned on Sunday that the fire was still spreading in an area difficult for crews to access, with a specific focus on preventing its advance towards a municipal forest.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin reported on social media that firefighters successfully contained the fire from spreading westwards towards the German town of Monschau. Local German authorities also warned on Sunday that the fire was approximately 1.5 kilometers from the border.
Farmers from both Belgium and Germany collaborated by filling tanker trucks with water from a nearby lake to assist firefighters at the fire site.
Belgium activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to receive support from other nations, as confirmed by Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s commissioner responsible for crisis management. Sweden dispatched two water-bombing aircraft, while three helicopters from the Netherlands and Czech Republic were also deployed.
The recent wildfires are occurring following weeks of exceptionally hot and dry weather, complicating firefighting efforts in the High Fens’ combination of heathland and peat bogs.
Belgium experienced another wave of intense heat recently, with temperatures reaching approximately 37°C in certain areas on Friday.
Meanwhile, in France, firefighters managed a wildfire in a pine forest in the southwestern Landes region without significant flare-ups overnight, with about 650 people evacuated from their residences. This incident marked the third major wildfire in the vast pine forests of southwestern France this summer.
In the United Kingdom, emergency services grappled with 14 wildfires in South Wales with military support. Officials cautioned that despite the easing heat wave, drought conditions amplified the wildfire risk.
In Germany, progress was made by firefighters against a wildfire in the Hürtgen Forest, allowing around 2,000 evacuated residents of Gey to return home on Saturday. As of Sunday, no open flames were reported, with crews establishing a cleared cordon to prevent the fire from spreading further.