Major Belgian Wildfire Spreads Toward Germany as Europe Battles Record Heat; Greece Investigates Fatal Blaze

Belgium’s High Fens region continued to burn Monday as one of the nation’s most destructive wildfires expanded toward the German border, having charred approximately 30 square kilometers in Liège province. Despite cooler overnight temperatures and rainfall that arrived with a cold front, firefighting officials acknowledged the blaze remained beyond their complete control, with flames continuing to advance eastward toward the German town of Monschau.

King Philippe cut short his summer vacation to meet with emergency personnel battling the inferno, which ignited in a pine forest Sunday and left behind scorched terrain and smoldering vegetation. Firefighting crews from Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands deployed aircraft to assist local forces, while police operated drones to monitor the fire’s progression across the fog-covered landscape.

Nicolas Yernaux, spokesman for Wallonia’s regional public services, stated that overnight precipitation had stabilized the fire’s perimeter in areas where crews were positioned but had limited impact on the active burning zone. He cautioned that remaining moisture offered only modest assistance in preventing dormant fires from reigniting, while hotel owner Thomas van Sante remarked that rainfall levels proved insufficient to ease concerns about the advancing threat.

Authorities maintained evacuation orders for hundreds of residents Monday as the tourism industry absorbed cancellations throughout the affected region.

In Greece, investigators examined fire damage on Salamina island, where a fast-moving Sunday blaze claimed two lives, wounded nine others and destroyed multiple residences located west of Athens. The fire department quickly mobilized resources to a separate Monday outbreak near Spata, an area containing the nation’s primary international airport, deploying two water-dropping aircraft and two helicopters that contained the flames within 30 minutes.

Greek authorities arrested an 80-year-old man in the northern city of Kavala on suspicion of deliberately igniting dried vegetation, contributing to a nationwide total of 302 fire-related arrests since January 1, encompassing 31 cases of suspected arson and 271 involving negligence.

In southwestern France, officials declared a Landes region fire under control after a four-day battle against flames that consumed 17 square kilometers and forced the evacuation of more than 600 residents. Approximately half of those evacuated were permitted to return home as temperatures began declining following an extended period of extreme heat across the continent.