Nature fire in Belgium grows larger, thousand hectares more burned in a few hours
The nature fire in the Belgian nature reserve Hoge Venen is still growing. By now, an area of 2700 hectares has been destroyed, comparable to the size of the municipality of Haarlem. At the end of the afternoon, that was still 1600 hectares. The fire is mainly expanding towards the east and the border with Germany.
The village Sourbrodt, in the Belgian province of Liège, has been partially evacuated. Emergency services have gone through about fifteen streets to inform residents that they must leave. Also in the nearby Bütgenbach, residents of several streets had to leave.
In total, about 600 people are involved. In two other places, residents must prepare for an evacuation.
Also German villages
On the German side of the border, residents of five villages in the municipality of Monschau must prepare to leave. Whether and when this will be decided depends on how the fire develops.
This is what the fire looks like from the air:
The fire is the largest in Belgian history. Extinguishing is difficult because the wind has changed direction and because the area is hard to access.
Belgian King Filip has thanked the emergency services for their efforts.
Many tourists
The Hoge Venen is a high plateau in the far east of Belgium, in both the French-speaking and German-speaking parts. The peat area is sparsely populated, but many tourists stay there. Authorities urge them to go to safer areas or home.
Several EU countries are sending aid to Belgium. For example, a helicopter from the Czech Republic and two firefighting planes from Sweden are coming. The Netherlands is sending two Chinook helicopters from Defense to help extinguish the fire, said Minister Berendsen of Foreign Affairs. Germany has also sent firefighters.
On the German side of the border, a nature fire is still raging. It is now under control. The 2000 evacuated residents of the village Gey may therefore return home.
State premier Wüst repeated the call from Friday not to enter the forest anywhere. The nature is now so vulnerable that, according to him, every chance of a fire must be excluded.