Rain aids battle against Belgium’s biggest wildfire as Europe burns

Rain over eastern Belgium on Monday morning provided much-needed relief to firefighters combating the country's largest wildfire on record, which had threatened to reach the German border. This development came as fires had ravaged Europe this summer, fueled by consecutive heatwaves exacerbated by climate change and drought, resulting in vegetation that was exceptionally dry and prone to ignition.

The European Forest Fire Information System reported that fires had scorched 576,000 hectares across Europe this year, an area twice the size of Luxembourg. Over the weekend, a tragic incident unfolded in Greece, where an elderly couple perished as fires engulfed the island of Salamina. With gale-force winds pushing the blaze towards residential areas, 500 residents were evacuated via ferry, resulting in damage to numerous houses.

In Spain, a separate fire in Aragon obliterated 16,600 hectares of land, while a conflagration in the Croatian coastal town of Omis compelled 1,000 individuals to evacuate their homes. Belgium's meteorological agency IRM forecasted between 5 and 9 millimeters of rain in the High Fens nature reserve, an area experiencing a wildfire since Friday.

Temperatures were expected to dip to around 20 degrees Celsius, an improvement from the previous week's scorching 30 degrees Celsius due to a heatwave that saw parts of Belgium soaring to 37 degrees Celsius.

Despite the easing of temperatures and increased humidity, large portions of western, southern, and central Europe remained highly susceptible to wildfires on Monday, as indicated by EFFIS data. The escalating threat of wildfires has become a commonplace occurrence during Europe's summers, exacerbated by climate change and exacerbated by factors such as rural abandonment, which has left land neglected and allowed flammable, dry vegetation to accumulate in forests.

Approximately 90% of wildfires are attributed to human activities, such as campfires or discarded cigarettes.

Last year, Europe experienced its most destructive fire season on record, with over a million hectares of land consumed by flames. In 2022, some countries, like France, shattered their annual fire records, and the traditional June-September fire season is far from concluding. Belgian officials confirmed that the blaze in Le Porge, where hundreds of homes were destroyed last month, was no longer advancing towards Germany and had partly contained. Evacuated inhabitants have not been granted permission to return to their homes.

Numerous firefighters from across Belgium, alongside neighboring Germany and Luxembourg, alongside farmers and the military, have been tirelessly battling the inferno. This wildfire has consumed roughly 3,000 hectares of moorland, peat, and woodland, surpassing Belgium's previous record-breaking fire in 2011, which scorched nearly 1,400 hectares. The European Union has dispatched three helicopters and two water-bombing aircraft from across Europe since Saturday, as Belgium sought emergency reinforcements.