Belgium’s worst wildfire in more than a century has stopped short of the German border, though emergency services have said they are still unable to declare it contained.
The fire in the High Fens nature reserve in Liège province, eastern Belgium, has burned about 3,000 hectares since it broke out on August 14. Crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans said on August 17 that the blaze had not spread further but that the position could still change with the weather.
Hosmans said the fire was no longer advancing towards Germany after creeping closer over the previous two days, a move that had prompted an evacuation order in the border town of Monschau.
Rain fell over the area on August 17, easing conditions for some 500 firefighters, soldiers and emergency workers on the ground. Officials said the improvement could prove short-lived.
Belgium had earlier called in aircraft through the EU civil protection mechanism, with three helicopters and two water bombers sent from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Sweden under the scheme coordinated by the European Commission.
King Philippe visited the command post at Sourbrodt on August 17, accompanied by interior minister Bernard Quintin, Walloon minister-president Adrien Dolimont and German-speaking Community minister-president Oliver Paasch.
A thick yellowish plume has blanketed the border area, with fumes detected as far away as eastern France, where authorities issued an air-pollution alert.
About 600 residents of the neighbouring municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach were ordered to leave their homes on August 15. Those from the village of Sourbrodt were told they could return from 9pm on August 17, while evacuees from the Bütgenbach hamlets of Küchelscheid and Leykaul were not.
Ground operations have been hampered by the terrain of the fens, a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks where heavy vehicles risk sinking. Crews have relied heavily on aerial support because they cannot reach much of the fire at close range.
The Liège public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the cause, which remains unknown.
The High Fens were last devastated on this scale in 1911, during a comparable spell of heat and drought. Temperatures reached about 37C in parts of Belgium on August 14, in what was Europe’s fifth heatwave of the summer.
Fires have also burned across France, Greece, Portugal and Spain in recent weeks. The European Commission said the area burned in Europe by the end of July was already two and a half times above the seasonal norm.
