Belgium races to tame huge wildfire creeping toward Germany

A massive wildfire in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve has spread to 3,000 hectares, prompting efforts to contain it. The fire, which started on Friday, is the largest in Belgium in modern times and has been fueled by successive heatwaves that have intensified drought and left vegetation tinder-dry across Europe.

Firefighters, aided by water-bombing aircraft, farmers' tractors, and helicopters from the Netherlands, are battling to control the blaze, which is moving towards the German border. According to the New Straits Times, the firefighting chief Luc Burette warned that if the fire cannot be contained, there is a risk it could spill over into Germany.

The mayor's office in the German town of Monschau ordered the evacuation of two streets due to the fire and smoke, while in Belgium, around 20 people spent the night in a local sports hall after two villages were partially evacuated. Firefighters from across Belgium, as well as from neighboring Germany and Luxembourg, have been deployed to combat the blaze, with local authorities saying the defensive line protecting evacuated villages is holding.

Brief written by urgent.news from Japan Times, New Straits Times, RTE News, Free Malaysia Today, Daily Maverick — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.