The European Union has dispatched helicopters and water-bombing aircraft to eastern Belgium, where a wildfire raging since Friday has destroyed roughly 1,600 hectares of the High Fens nature reserve, making it the largest blaze ever recorded in the country. European Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib confirmed that three helicopters and two water-bombers from Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands have been deployed.
Provincial authorities in Liège ordered evacuations in two municipalities on Saturday afternoon as shifting winds drove heavy smoke across residential areas, and a children's holiday camp in the affected zone was evacuated. Belgian officials activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to coordinate the international response.
The fire comes as Belgium and neighbouring Germany endure the summer's fifth heatwave. A separate wildfire in Germany's Hürtgenwald, near the Belgian border, was brought under control on Saturday after more than 2,000 residents were evacuated.