In brief
A devastating wildfire broke out Friday in the High Fens nature reserve and has since consumed roughly 30% of the protected area. Firefighters, assisted by water-bombing aircraft and helicopters from across Europe, are battling the fierce flames while residents of nearby villages evacuate. Belgium’s regional authorities have declared the fire the largest in recent memory, deploying all available resources to protect homes and the fragile ecosystem. The fire underscores how extreme summer heat has intensified wildfires across Europe, prompting urgent cooperation under the EU’s civil protection mechanism.
A huge wildfire erupted Friday in the High Fens nature reserve—Belgium’s largest protected area—engulfing around a third of the park.
Firefighters on the ground, aided by water‑bombing aircraft and helicopters from Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Sweden, are struggling to contain the blaze as residents of nearby villages are ordered to evacuate. Belgian authorities describe the fire as the worst the country has seen in recent years and are mobilising all available resources to safeguard homes.
The fire’s intensity is partly due to the park’s boggy terrain and complex moorland, making the landscape difficult to access and increasing the risk of rapid spread. “We have let parts of the heathland burn because we cannot control it,” says spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux of Walloon authorities.
The blaze is part of a wave of European wildfires ignited by record‑high summer temperatures. Nearby France’s Landes forest has seen its own fires leave hundreds displaced, and similar outbreaks are reported in Croatia, Spain, and Serbia.
The European union’s civil protection mechanism has been activated to deploy international support, demonstrating the growing necessity of cross‑border cooperation amid heightened climate risks.
