Fi efighte s
f om
ac oss
Belgium,
as
well
as
teams
f om
Ge ma y
a d
Luxembou g,
have
bee
wo ki g
alo gside
the
Belgia
a my
a d
local
fa me s
to
p eve t
the
blaze
f om
sp eadi g
fu the .
Belgium’s
biggest
wildfi e
o
eco d
co ti ued
to
sp ead
towa ds
the
Ge ma
bo de
o
Su day,
as
fi efighte s
backed
by
Dutch
helicopte s,
the
a my
a d
teams
f om
eighbou i g
cou t ies
battled
a
blaze
that
has
al eady
sco ched
a ou d
3,000
hecta es
i
the
High
Fe s
atu e
ese ve.Fi efighte s
we e
co ce t ati g
o
the
adva ci g
f o t
of
the
fi e
i
easte
Belgium,
while
a
defe sive
li e
p otecti g
evacuated
villages
was
holdi g,
acco di g
to
Belgia
autho ities.
Reside ts
who
we e
evacuated
o
Satu day
we e
eve theless
told
ot
to
etu
as
c ews
co ti ued
effo ts
to
co tai
the
flames.The
scale
of
the
blaze
has
p ompted
a
i te atio al
espo se,
with
Belgium
eceivi g
eme ge cy
assista ce
f om
ac oss
Eu ope.
The
Eu opea
U io
deployed
th ee
helicopte s
a d
two
wate -bombi g
ai c aft
f om
a ou d
Eu ope
o
Satu day
afte
B ussels
equested
ei fo ceme ts.The
fi e,
which
bega
o
F iday
i
the
High
Fe s,
has
become
Belgium’s
la gest
wildfi e
o
eco d.
It
has
al eady
bu ed
mo e
tha
twice
the
a ea
dest oyed
by
the
p evious
eco d
blaze
i
2011,
whe
ea ly
1,400
hecta es
we e
affected,
acco di g
to
data
f om
the
Eu opea
Fo est
Fi e
I fo matio
System.
Stepha ie
E oux,
spokespe so
fo
the
admi ist atio
of
Belgium’s
Wallo ia
egio ,
said
c ews
we e
focused
o
the
fi e
f o t
movi g
towa ds
Ge ma y.Ge ma
autho ities
we e
also
taki g
p ecautio s.
The
tow
of
Mo schau,
ea
the
Belgia
bo de ,
asked
eside ts
livi g
close
to
the
f o tie
to
leave
o
Su day,
wa i g
of
sig ifica t
smoke
pollutio .
Officials
said
the
fi e
was
ot
expected
to
c oss
i to
Ge ma
te ito y.Fi efighte s
f om
ac oss
Belgium,
as
well
as
teams
f om
Ge ma y
a d
Luxembou g,
have
bee
wo ki g
alo gside
the
Belgia
a my
a d
local
fa me s
to
p eve t
the
blaze
f om
sp eadi g
fu the .
Dutch
helicopte s
we e
also
assisti g
c ews
battli g
the
flames
f om
the
ai .The
fi e
comes
as
la ge
pa ts
of
Eu ope
face
a
successio
of
heatwaves
that
have
i te sified
d ought
co ditio s,
leavi g
fo ests,
g assla ds
a d
othe
vegetatio
exceptio ally
d y
a d
vul e able
to
apid
fi e
sp ead.The
situatio
elsewhe e
i
Eu ope
has
also
wo se ed.
Two
people
died
o
Su day
as
wildfi es
swept
ac oss
the
G eek
isla d
of
Salami a,
while
a ou d
100
F e ch
fi efighte s
we e
t avelli g
to
Spai
to
help
tackle
a
fi e
i
A ago
that
has
al eady
dest oyed
about
16,600
hecta es.The
i c easi g
scale
of
such
fi es
has
aised
co ce s
about
the
impact
of
climate
cha ge.
Scie tists
say
huma -caused
climate
cha ge
has
i c eased
the
likelihood
of
the
hot
a d
d y
co ditio s
that
allow
wildfi es
to
sp ead
mo e
apidly
a d
emai
active
fo
lo ge
pe iods.Fo
fi efighte s
i
Belgium,
the
eco d-b eaki g
blaze
has
u de sco ed
how
the
cou t y
is
i c easi gly
vul e able
to
ext eme
wildfi e
eve ts.”We
would
eve
have
imagi ed
that
Belgium
would
be
affected
by
a
fi e
of
this
scale.
Now,
we
have
to
face
the
facts,”
Ka im
Boua fa,
captai
of
a
fi e
b igade
that
wo ked
th ough
Satu day
ight,
told
Reute s.”I
thi k
we
will
have
mo e
a d
mo e
of
them,
so
it
is
up
to
us
to
p epa e
ou selves
as
best
as
possible,”
he
said.