Wildfire in Belgium's High Fens Reserve
Firefighters are battling Belgium's largest wildfire on record as it burns through the High Fens nature reserve near the German border, according to Al Jazeera. The fire broke out on Friday in Belgium's Liege province and has been spreading east towards Germany, burning more than 27sq km (10.4sq miles).
Belgium's previous record fire occurred in 2011, burning 14sq km (5.4sq miles) of the same reserve, as reported by the European Forest Fire Information System, cited by Al Jazeera.
More than 250 emergency services personnel have been deployed, including firefighters from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Firefighters focused on containing the advancing front of the fire, according to Stephanie Ernoux, spokesperson for the government of Belgium's Wallonia province, who spoke to Reuters.
About 600 people in the Belgian border municipalities of Waimes and Butgenbach were told to leave their homes on Saturday as winds shifted and smoke spread. Authorities said no homes had been affected as of Sunday morning, but urged people to stay away from the fire zone.
In Germany, the town of Monschau said the fire had come within about 3km (1.9 miles) of the border. Officials did not expect the flames to cross the border, the town said, but it advised residents of three of its districts to leave temporarily due to the smoke.
Fire Contained, German Crews Withdraw
By August 20, after seven days, the fire was contained, according to local authorities, as reported by Deutsche Welle. "At this stage, the fire is now under control in its entirety and should no longer spread," barring a major change in weather conditions or other unforeseen factors, said the local governor's office.
German firefighters who had been assisting with the containment efforts were expected to withdraw by the end of the day. However, efforts to douse the wildfire were still far from over, with ground temperatures still "extremely high" after the prolonged and widespread blaze, particularly on the less easily accessible eastern front nearer the German border.
Aircraft deployed from across Europe continued waterbombing flights overhead as long as the weather remained clement. The 3,000-hectare blaze in the High Fens nature reserve also led to a large deployment across the border in the town of Monschau.
Some 20 to 30 residents on two of the most at-risk streets in Monschau had been ordered to leave their homes for several days. This evacuation order was lifted as of late Wednesday.
Europe's Summer of Heat and Fire
The fire came as Belgium experienced another burst of severe heat, with the thermometer touching roughly 37C (98.6F) in places on Friday, on top of weeks with barely any rain, according to Al Jazeera.
Like other parts of Europe, Belgium is in the middle of a summer of repeated heatwaves. Weather agencies logged temperatures above 35C (95F) in several European countries on Thursday, and the United Kingdom had its hottest day of the year, with west London reaching 38.1C (100.5F).
Across the European Union, about 500,000 hectares (about 1.24 million acres) have burned this year, Al Jazeera reported. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes in Germany, France, the UK, Croatia and Greece in recent days, as wildfires continue to spread across the continent.