SOURBRODT – One of Belgium's biggest ever wildfires blazed out of control Monday even as cooler weather and rain eased conditions for firefighters, while in Greece a fire briefly flared up near the main airport on the outskirts of Athens.
Europe is sweltering through one of its hottest and driest summers on record, which a recent study said was fueled by climate change.
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Rain helps, but Belgian blaze is not yet under control
Belgium’s King Philippe interrupted his summer vacation to visit emergency services fighting the wildfire in the eastern High Fens, about eight kilometers (five miles) from the German border, as it spread east after moving into a pine forest on Sunday.
The fire in Liège province has burned an estimated 30 square kilometers (about 12 square miles), leaving blackened trees and smoldering ground. The scent of wood smoke drifted through the fog-drenched forest early Monday.
Dozens of firefighters were aided by aircraft sent from Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands and local police with drones monitoring the fires after a much-welcomed cold front brought overnight rain.
“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,” said Nicolas Yernaux, the spokesperson for the Wallonia regional public services.
He said overnight rains helped contain the blaze and dampen the possibility that smoldering fires will flare up again, but he said they did not significantly impact the center of the fire.
“Where it is burning, I am not sure it’s really helping,” he said.
Veterinarian Hugues Guyvot, who was involved in animal rescue efforts, said large animals were able to flee but smaller ones like frogs and mice likely burrowed and were baked underground in a landscape of peat bogs.
“Maybe it will take decades to recover from this fire,” he said.
Tourists have left the region and canceled reservations, said Thomas van Sante, the owner of the Mont Dragon hotel near the park where the fire was raging.
“There’s rain now but it is not enough,” van Sante said.
Precautionary evacuation orders remained in effect Monday for hundreds of residents.
Greece quickly extinguishes fire near main airport
In Greece, fire department investigators examined the area on the island of Salamina where a fast-moving wildfire on Sunday killed two people, injured another nine and destroyed several homes. The island lies just west of the Greek capital.
New wildfires broke out elsewhere Monday. Dozens of firefighters along with two water-dropping planes and two helicopters raced to tackle one in Spata, an area east of Athens that includes the main international airport. The fire department said the blaze was contained within 30 minutes.
Separately, the fire department said an 80-year-old man was arrested in the northern town of Kavala on arson charges for allegedly deliberately setting fire to dried vegetation. The arrest was among 302 fire-related arrests since Jan. 1 in Greece, including 31 for deliberate arson and 271 for negligence that sparked fires, the department said.
France says a fire in the southwest is under control
In southwestern France, authorities said a fire in the Landes region was under control after four days of battling the flames, allowing about half of the evacuated residents to begin returning home.
More than 600 residents evacuated last week as the fire burned about 17 square kilometers (6.6 square miles) during a prolonged spell of extreme heat. Some respite was on the way Monday as temperatures began to drop.
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Corbet reported from Paris. Elena Becatoros in Argostoli, Greece, contributed.