The governor of Liège in the Belgian Ardennes activated a provincial emergency plan on Tuesday evening due to a large wildfire. This also allows them to call in foreign aid. Belgian media reported that, among other things, the call-up of Dutch or German fire helicopters is being looked at.
The fire has been raging since Monday evening in the Hoge Venen, a nature reserve in the Ardennes. The extinguishing firefighters thought they had the fire under control on Tuesday afternoon, but because the wind changed direction, the fire flared up again.
The Belgian fire brigade no longer has sufficient resources to extinguish the fire. According to VRT NWS they only have one fire-fighting helicopter and the nature reserve is not easily accessible for fire engines.
In the meantime, about 170 hectares of nature reserve have gone up in flames. The fire service wets surrounding, vulnerable nature areas to prevent the fire from spreading.
The fire service believes that the fire was caused by people and not by something natural, such as a lightning strike.
In 2011, a fire also raged in the same nature reserve. Then 1,000 hectares eventually went up in flames, making it the largest wildfire ever experienced by the southern neighbors.
European Union doubles number of firefighting aircraft and helicopters
Meanwhile, the European Union is preparing for a summer with many forest fires. The year has already started drier than average, says responsible European Commissioner Janez Lenarcic to ANP. “European disaster relief workers are in for a busy, very busy summer,” says Lenarcic.
The EU decided on Tuesday to double the number of firefighting aircraft and helicopters. Soon, not thirteen, but 28 fire extinguishers can be deployed. It concerns ten large fire-fighting aircraft, fourteen smaller aircraft and four fire-fighting helicopters. They mainly go to southern European countries, but also come to Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
2023-05-30 19:28:00
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