In brief
A fierce wildfire has engulfed a third of the High Fens nature reserve in Belgium, forcing the evacuation of two villages and threatening a third. Firefighters, with aid from across Europe, are battling the blaze, which sparked on Friday and has been declared the country’s biggest in recent years. EU civil protection was activated, deploying water‐bombing aircraft and helicopters from Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Weather conditions and the reserve’s boggy terrain have hampered firefighting efforts, leading authorities to allow certain areas of the heathland to burn to protect more critical zones. The blaze is part of a summer wave of wildfires affecting Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain and Serbia amid extreme heat and rising temperatures.
A fierce wildfire has engulfed roughly a third of the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes) nature reserve in Belgium, creating a smoke cloud visible across the sky.
Firefighters, aided by water‑bombing aircraft and helicopters from Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, are battling a blaze that has already forced the evacuation of two villages and threatened a third.
Belgian officials say the fire, which ignited on Friday, is the country’s biggest in recent years and could reach nearby homes.
The EU’s civil protection mechanism was triggered, sending international support to supplement local crews as weather and the boggy terrain make containment difficult.
Firefighters have had to allow parts of the heathland to burn to protect more critical zones, according to regional spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux.
Baltic is just one of several European nations battling wildfires this summer, as extreme heat and rising temperatures spark fires across France, Croatia, Spain and Serbia.
