Belgium’s biggest wildfire on record heads towards Germany
HAUTES FAGNES/BRUSSELS, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled with the aid of Dutch helicopters on Sunday to contain Belgium's biggest wildfire, which has already burned 3,000 hectares of land and which local authorities said was heading towards the German border.
Belgium faced its largest wildfire on record on Sunday, with the blaze threatening to cross the border into Germany. The fire, burning in the High Fens nature reserve, has already destroyed 3,000 hectares of land, more than double the size of the previous largest blaze in 2011. Dutch helicopters assisted Belgian firefighters in containing the inferno, while neighboring Germany and Luxembourg pledged support.
Two fatalities occurred in Greece and a hundred Spanish firefighters traveled to help a blaze in Aragon that has scorched 16,600 hectares. Climate scientists attribute the increased frequency of such catastrophic fires to human-induced climate change.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
