A German town near the Belgian border has evacuated residents from two streets as a major wildfire in Belgium spreads through dry conditions and heavy smoke
Authorities in the German town of Monschau ordered some residents to leave their homes on Sunday as a major wildfire in Belgium spread close to the Germany-Belgium border. Officials cited the advancing fire, heavy smoke and weather conditions as they evacuated two streets in the town, which has around 12,000 residents.
The Monschau mayor’s office said residents on two streets had to evacuate because of the fire and smoke, as well as the prevailing weather conditions.
Authorities had earlier advised “residents of areas close to the border leave these zones”, warning that the fire front had moved to within 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) of the Germany-Belgium border.
The blaze was also just 1.8 kilometres from the nearest inhabited area.
Belgian authorities had already ordered the evacuation of Kuechelscheid, a settlement about a 10-minute drive from Monschau.
Wildfires spread across drought-hit Europe
The fire in Belgium is being described as the worst wildfire in modern Belgian history.
“We would never have imagined that Belgium would be affected by a fire of this scale. Now, we have to face the facts,” Karim Bouarfa, captain of a fire brigade that worked through Saturday night, told Reuters. “I think we will have more and more of them, so it is up to us to prepare ourselves as best as possible,” he added.
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The blaze comes as parts of Europe face tinder-dry conditions and drought, fuelling a series of wildfires across the continent this summer.
In western Germany, around 1,800 people were evacuated overnight from Thursday to Friday because of a separate wildfire.
Two people died on Sunday as fires swept through the Greek island of Salamina, while a hundred French firefighters were on their way to help combat a blaze in Aragon, Spain, which has destroyed 16,600 hectares.