Belgium battles 'worst wildfire in recent history' as evacuations ordered

On Saturday afternoon, firefighters across Belgium were locked in a battle they were losing. A wildfire had torn through the High Fens, the country's largest nature reserve, consuming roughly a third of it in less than two days. The flames had been advancing since Friday, and by the time regional authorities issued evacuation orders, the fire was already described as the worst Belgium had seen in recent memory.

Two villages near the reserve were ordered to empty. Residents gathered what they could and left, some heading to a gymnasium that had been hastily opened to shelter them. The immediate threat was clear: if the wind shifted the wrong way, if the fire found its momentum again, homes would burn. Nicolas Yernaux, speaking for Wallonia's regional government, put it plainly—there was a real risk the flames would reach residential areas. But he also acknowledged what his teams were up against. The terrain itself was an adversary. Bog, moorland, dense forest. In some places, firefighters made the calculated decision to let sections of heathland burn rather than risk lives trying to reach them.

Gregory Melotte, one of the firefighters on the ground, described the work in terms that suggested both small victories and ongoing dread. They had managed to push back the fire advancing from the plain, preventing it from spreading into the fir forest. But the flames kept coming. The wind had turned twice—once in their favor, once against them. By Saturday afternoon, the blaze remained uncontrolled.

Belgium did not fight alone. The country activated the European Union's civil protection mechanism, a formal request for help that triggered an international response. Two water-bombing aircraft from Sweden were en route. A helicopter from the Czech Republic and another from the Netherlands were mobilized. The scale of the deployment reflected both the severity of the fire and a broader crisis unfolding across the continent. On the same Saturday, a forest fire in southwestern France had forced 650 residents from their homes. That blaze had started Thursday, seemed to be contained, then reignited Saturday with more than 500 firefighters deployed against it. Simultaneous wildfires were burning in Croatia, Spain, and Serbia.

The common thread was heat. Western Europe had just experienced its hottest June-to-July period on record, according to the EU's climate monitoring service, Copernicus. The land was dry. The conditions were primed for fire. What had begun as a summer of extreme temperatures was becoming a summer of flames—swathes of Europe either burning or scorched brown, with no clear end in sight. The firefighters in Belgium and France were not fighting isolated incidents. They were fighting a season.