Firefighters fought a large wildfire that burned a nature reserve in eastern Belgium and another on a Greek island close to Athens, where two individuals lost their lives on Sunday due to hot and dry conditions igniting fires across parts of Europe.
The wildfire in eastern Belgium consumed approximately 30 square kilometers in the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes), a vast nature reserve, marking one of the worst wildfires in recent Belgian history. Around 600 residents in the nearby towns of Waimes and Bütgenbach, located in Liège province near the German border, were instructed to evacuate on Saturday as winds changed direction, spreading smoke throughout the area. Authorities recommended tourists to leave, and a nearby gymnasium was prepared to accommodate evacuees.
Hervé Jamar, the provincial governor of Liège, mentioned in a statement on Sunday that more than 250 emergency personnel, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, as well as police, military officers, and civil protection staff, were dispatched. Firefighting helicopters from Belgium’s federal police and the Netherlands also provided assistance.
In Greece, the coast guard reported that an elderly couple perished outside their home on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, close to where the fire originated. Over 500 individuals were evacuated from the island. The fire broke out during Greece’s peak summer holiday weekend around the Aug. 15 Assumption holiday, a time when many Athenians visit neighboring islands like Salamina, easily accessible from Piraeus, the capital’s main port.
The blaze caused damage to residences, with five individuals being taken to a health facility, as per local accounts. Approximately 192 firefighters, 14 aircraft and helicopters, volunteer teams, and municipal water tankers were mobilized to contain the wildfires. Coast guard and firefighting vessels were dispatched to the island, with arrangements made for potential sea evacuations from threatened coastal areas. Salamina was under a high wildfire risk warning on Sunday, and the cause of the fires remained unknown.
The ongoing wildfire in Belgium has surpassed a 2011 fire that burned nearly 14 square kilometers in the same region, previously the country’s most extensive recorded wildfire, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System. Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia, noted that conditions were significantly worse this time due to very dry soil.
René Dahmen, chief engineer at the Department of Nature and Forests, mentioned that the fire was still spreading on Sunday in a challenging-to-access area. Interior Minister Bernard Quintin confirmed on social media that firefighters successfully prevented the fire from spreading westward toward the German town of Monschau, with local authorities in Germany cautioning that the fire was approximately 1.5 kilometers from the border.
Belgium activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to receive aid from other countries, as stated by Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s commissioner for crisis management. Sweden dispatched two water-bombing aircraft, while three helicopters (two from the Netherlands and one from the Czech Republic) were also deployed. The wildfire outbreak follows a period of unusually hot and dry weather, complicating containment efforts in the High Fens’ heathland and peat bog mix.
In France, firefighters managing a wildfire in a pine forest in the southwestern Landes region reported no major flare-ups overnight. The total burned area was estimated at 17 square kilometers, with approximately 650 individuals evacuated from their residences. This was the third significant wildfire in the vast pine forests of southwestern France this summer. In the United Kingdom, emergency crews battled 14 wildfires in South Wales with military support, cautioning that despite easing heat, drought conditions increased the risk of wildfires.