EU sends aircraft as Belgium fights record wildfire
The blaze has burned 1,600 hectares and could become Belgium’s largest on record, officials said, as firefighters and farmers battle the flames.
- On Saturday, the European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft to tackle a massive wildfire raging in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve after authorities requested emergency assistance.
- Data from the European Forest Fire Information System indicates the fire has consumed 1,600 hectares, becoming the largest on record in Belgium and surpassing a 2011 fire that burned nearly 1,400 hectares.
- Battling the blaze since Friday, local firefighters, farmers, and the army are pumping water from nearby lakes while attempting to contain the flames within the Hautes Fagnes reserve.
- EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbib announced aircraft from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands arrived to bolster the response, as the European Union coordinates pooled resources for member nations.
- Belgium recently suffered its fifth heatwave of the summer, creating dry conditions that scientists confirm increase fire-prone weather, allowing wildfires to spread faster and burn longer across the region.
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Belgium has asked other European Union (EU) countries for help in extinguishing a forest fire in the east of the country, about 25 kilometers from the German border.
A wildfire raging in the Hautes Fagnes region of eastern Belgium has affected approximately 1,600 hectares. This is the largest wildfire ever recorded in the country.
The fire, which declared itself on Friday, has so far burned more than 2,000 hectares.
Residents evacuate as Belgium wildfire scorches 1,600 hectares
BRUSSELS: Residents began evacuating from two villages in eastern Belgium on Saturday (Aug 15) as firefighters, backed by water bombers and helicopters from across Europe, battled one of the biggest wildfires in the country's history.Reinforcements from across the country were fighting the blaze
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