Belgium races to tame wildfire creeping towards Germany
Water-bombing aircraft and farmers' tractors joined forces to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which has scorched vast swathes of a hard-to-reach nature reserve near the German border.
Belgium faces its worst wildfire in a century, with blazes consuming 3,000 hectares of pristine High Fens nature reserve near the German border. Firefighters, backed by water-dropping aircraft, have battled the inferno for four days, though it has halted short of the border. King Philippe visited the fire zone, pledging support for containment efforts.
The fire, ignited in an area ravaged by 1911 blazes, has been contained but weather conditions could change its status. Much needed rain has provided respite to 500 firefighters, but strong winds could pose new challenges. Thick smoke has spread to eastern France, triggering pollution alerts. Airlifts of water-dropping aircraft from Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium have bolstered on-site operations.
Local farmers have also pitched in, deploying tankers filled with water from a nearby lake. Temperatures soaring to 37C have fueled the wildfire outbreak, common across Europe this summer. Two fires on the Greek island of Salamis claimed two lives and led to the evacuation of nearly 600 people.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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