Rain has provided critical relief in containing Belgium’s largest wildfire on record, which threatened to cross into Germany, as Europe grapples with a severe wildfire season fueled by extreme heat. The blaze, burning 3,000 hectares in the High Fens, remains a persistent threat due to underground peat fires, while neighboring countries face their own crises.
The fire in Belgium’s High Fens nature reserve, now the country’s largest on record, has seen some relief from Monday’s rainfall, which helped firefighters contain parts of the blaze and prevent it from spreading toward Germany. However, officials warn the fire is far from extinguished, with smoldering peat underground posing a long-term risk. We can’t say that the fire is contained. It flares up all the time,
said Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the administration of the Wallonia region, according to Reuters.
Rain Brings Relief, but Fire Remains a Threat
Monday’s rainfall, which delivered 5–9 millimeters in the High Fens, temporarily lowered temperatures, offering respite to over 500 firefighters from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and EU reinforcements. Despite this, the fire continues to burn in inaccessible areas, particularly near the German border. We managed to maintain the fire where the firemen are situated, but there’s still a place which is totally inaccessible, where the fire is still going on in the direction of Monschau in Germany,
Yernaux told AP News.
The blaze, which has consumed 3,000 hectares, surpasses a blaze in 2011 which burned close to 1,400 hectares. Evacuated residents remain unable to return, and the fire has penetrated the nature reserve’s metres-deep peat bogs, where it could smolder for months. What we see here is that the grassland has burned and the fire has gone into the soil to a certain depth, into the peat, and it is still burning,
said Yves Pieper, a forest ranger, as reported by AP News. It can go down very, very low in the peat layer.
Peat Fires Pose Long-Term Challenge
Peat fires can smoulder underground, without flames, for long periods, complicate efforts to fully extinguish the blaze. Veterinarian Hugues Guyvot, who was involved in animal rescue efforts, noted that while large animals were able to flee, smaller ones like frogs and mice likely burrowed and were baked underground. Maybe it will take decades to recover from this fire,
he said, according to AP News. The fire’s persistence underscores the difficulty of combating such blazes, as even rain may not fully douse the smoldering layers beneath the surface.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a 12 million-euro ($13.9 million) aid package to Gironde and Landes, the regions hardest hit by the wildfires, to help rebuild homes and support affected businesses, including in Le Porge, where 183 homes were destroyed in a massive blaze last month. Meanwhile, in Greece, a fire on the island of Salamina killed an elderly couple and forced evacuations, highlighting the continent-wide scale of the crisis. This will change everything; in addition to the water associated with rainfall, there will also be an increase in humidity levels,
said fire department captain Olivier Guist, per Cyprus Mail.
Europe’s Worsening Wildfire Crisis
Europe’s wildfire season has been active, with over 576,000 hectares (2,225 square miles) across Europe this year—an area twice the size of Luxembourg—according to the European Forest Fire Information System. The trend is linked to climate change, with successive heatwaves fuelled by climate change intensifying drought and leaving vegetation tinder-dry. Extreme fire risk has become a regular part of European summers,
Reuters noted, citing the combination of hotter, drier weather caused by climate change and other factors – including rural abandonment, which has left land untended and allowed flammable, dry vegetation to build up in forests – to fuel fast-spreading fires.
Spain, Greece, and Croatia have also faced severe blazes. In Spain, a wildfire in Andalusia in the south has burned nearly 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) since August 6, while a fire in the tourist town of Omis, Croatia, forced 1,000 people to flee. In Greece, investigators are examining a fire on the island of Salamina where 500 people were evacuated by ferry after wind pushed the flames into residential areas. About 90% of wildfires are ignited by human activities,
Reuters reported, citing prosecutors in Belgium who have opened an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Political and Public Reactions
Belgium’s King Philippe interrupted his summer vacation to visit emergency services fighting the wildfire, underscoring the crisis’s gravity. In France, residents in the village Le Porge booed French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu as he visited on Monday, accusing authorities of prioritising richer areas. Meanwhile, in Greece, an 80-year-old man was arrested in the northern town of Kavala on arson charges for allegedly deliberately setting fire to dried vegetation, part of 302 fire-related arrests since Jan. 1 in Greece, according to AP News.
Despite these measures, officials warn the fire season is far from over. Europe had already suffered its worst fire season on record last year,
Reuters noted, with more than a million hectares of land burned.
Some countries, including France, have smashed through their annual records this year, with the traditional June-September fire season far from over.
The High Fens fire serves as a stark reminder of the growing threat posed by climate-driven wildfires. As rain provides temporary relief, the underlying challenge—combating peat fires and addressing the root causes of extreme weather—remains daunting. With temperatures expected to remain high and drought conditions persisting, the coming weeks will test the resilience of European communities and emergency responders alike.
