Firefighters are battling Belgium's largest wildfire on record as it tears through the High Fens nature reserve near the German border, officials said on Sunday.
The fire broke out on Friday in Belgium's Liege province and has been spreading east towards Germany, burning more than 27 square kilometers (10.4 square miles) of pristine moorland and forest.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Belgium's previous record fire occurred in 2011, when 14 square kilometers (5.4 square miles) of the same reserve were destroyed.
More than 250 emergency services personnel have been deployed, including firefighters from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Stephanie Ernoux, spokesperson for the government of Belgium's Wallonia province, told Reuters that crews were focused on containing the advancing front of the fire.
About 600 residents in the Belgian border municipalities of Waimes and Butgenbach were ordered to evacuate on Saturday as shifting winds spread smoke across the area. 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 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) of the border. Officials did not expect the flames to cross the frontier, but advised residents of three districts to leave temporarily due to heavy smoke.
The blaze erupted just as Belgium emerged from another severe heatwave, with temperatures hitting roughly 37°C (98.6°F) in places on Friday, following weeks of scant rainfall.
Like much of Europe, Belgium is enduring a summer of repeated heatwaves. Weather agencies logged temperatures above 35°C (95°F) in several European countries on Thursday, and the United Kingdom experienced its hottest day of the year when west London reached 38.1°C (100.5°F).
Fires have frequently followed the heat. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes in Germany, France, the UK, Croatia, and Greece in recent days, and about 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres) have burned across the European Union this year, highlighting the escalating climate crisis.
Source: www.aljazeera.com