Firefighters were engaged in combatting a massive wildfire that ravaged a nature reserve in eastern Belgium and another on a Greek island near Athens, resulting in two fatalities on Sunday due to hot and dry conditions escalating fires across various parts of Europe.
The wildfire in eastern Belgium consumed approximately 30 square kilometers in the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes), a significant nature reserve and one of the most severe wildfires in recent Belgian history. Around 600 residents from the neighboring municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach in Liège province, close to the German border, were instructed to evacuate on Saturday as winds changed direction and smoke enveloped the vicinity. Authorities recommended tourists to depart, and a nearby gymnasium was designated for evacuees.
Hervé Jamar, the provincial governor of Liège, disclosed on Sunday that more than 250 emergency responders, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, along with police, military personnel, and civil protection teams, were mobilized. Firefighting helicopters from Belgium’s federal police and the Netherlands also provided assistance.
In Greece, the coast guard reported that an elderly couple perished outside their residence on the island of Salamina, situated west of Athens, close to where the fire originated. Over 500 individuals were rescued from the island. The fire erupted during Greece’s peak summer holiday weekend around the Assumption holiday on August 15, drawing numerous Athenians to nearby islands like Salamina, conveniently accessible from Piraeus, the capital’s main port.
Multiple houses were damaged, and reports indicated that five individuals received medical attention at a health clinic. Approximately 192 firefighters, 14 aircraft, helicopters, volunteer squads, and municipal water tankers were deployed to suppress the blazes. Coast guard and firefighting vessels were dispatched to the island, preparing for potential sea evacuations from threatened coastal regions.
Salamina was under a high wildfire risk alert on Sunday, while the cause of the fires remained unknown. The ongoing wildfire in Belgium has surpassed a 2011 blaze that affected nearly 14 square kilometers in the same region, previously the country’s most extensive wildfire on record, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System.
Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia, noted that the current conditions were significantly worse due to exceedingly dry soil. René Dahmen, the chief engineer at the Department of Nature and Forests, mentioned that the fire continued to spread on Sunday in a challenging area for firefighting crews to access.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin confirmed that the firefighters successfully prevented the blaze from spreading towards the west and the German town of Monschau. In Germany, local authorities cautioned that the fire was approximately 1.5 kilometers away from the border. Farmers from both Belgium and Germany aided firefighters by filling tanker trucks with water from a nearby lake and heading towards the fire zone to offer support.
Belgium activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to receive aid from other countries. Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s commissioner overseeing crisis management, emphasized that Belgium was not confronting the situation alone. Sweden dispatched two water-bombing aircraft, while three helicopters from the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were also deployed.
The wildfires in Europe have transpired amid weeks of exceptionally hot and arid weather. The composition of heathland and peat bogs in the High Fens has complicated firefighting efforts due to the combustible nature of the terrain. Belgium experienced another heatwave recently, with temperatures reaching up to about 37°C in certain regions on Friday.
In France, firefighters managing a wildfire in a pine forest in the southwestern Landes region reported no significant flare-ups overnight. The total burnt area was estimated at 17 square kilometers, leading to the evacuation of approximately 650 residents. This incident marked the third major wildfire in southwest France’s vast pine forests this summer, following two previous blazes in late July.
The neighboring Gironde department in France encountered a massive wildfire that consumed about 420 square kilometers, prompting the evacuation of around 220,000 people as it advanced towards the Atlantic coast and Bordeaux. In the United Kingdom, emergency crews tackled 14 wildfires in South Wales with military support. Despite the cooling trend in the heatwave, persistent drought conditions heightened the wildfire risk.
A series of blazes destroyed over a dozen homes in the West Midlands in central England this week, coinciding with the hottest day of the year on Thursday, with temperatures soaring to 38.1°C. In Germany, firefighters made significant headway against a wildfire in the Hürtgen Forest, enabling approximately 2,000 evacuated Gey residents to return home on Saturday. Authorities confirmed that there were no active flames, and a cleared cordon was established to prevent the fire’s spread.
