Wildfires burning across Europe have uncovered buried World War II munitions, triggering sporadic explosions in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. A blaze outside Bordeaux exposed a cache of World War II-era ammunition, while in Belgium's Liège province, Governor Hervé Jamar reported detonations from ordnance buried in fire-affected areas. The High Fens region, site of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, remains heavily contaminated.
Low water levels have compounded the problem elsewhere. In Slovakia, the Danube River exposed two naval mines that were recovered for controlled demolition, and Hungarian authorities closed Budapest's Margaret Bridge after a World War II bomb was found at its base. In the Netherlands, a bomb disposal team was dispatched to a threatened forest in Limburg.
Belgium's Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction Service responds to more than 3,000 calls annually, disposing of up to 250 tons of munitions each year.