Wildfires kill two in Greece and torch Belgian nature reserve

Belgium battling biggest fire in more than a century as flames near German border and 600 people told to evacuate

An elderly couple died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis on Sunday while a fire ravaged Belgium’s largest nature reserve in the latest wave of European wildfires.

The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamis, Greece’s coastguard said. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.

In Belgium, a wildfire that broke out on Friday in the High Fens, a large nature reserve popular with hikers, had ravaged about 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of land and was encroaching on the border with Germany by early Sunday morning.

About 600 people in the municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province, were told on Saturday to evacuate from their homes, and tourists were also advised to leave, as winds shifted and smoke spread. Of those who followed the order, about 20 spent the night in a sports hall, while others sought refuge with family and friends.

Hervé Jamar, the governor of Liège, said more than 250 firefighters and emergency staff were involved in the operation, including firefighters from Germany.

Farmers have also been helping to battle the blaze, using their tractors to pull in water from Lake Robertville.

Air support, provided by two water-bombing aircraft from Sweden and four helicopters – two from Belgium and two from the Netherlands – is crucial owing to the nature reserve’s complex and fragile terrain, which is made up of dense forest, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks where heavy firefighting vehicles risk sinking.

Access to Lake Bütgenbach was prohibited on Sunday to allow the aircraft to refill.

Authorities described the conditions as still challenging, although two fire fronts towards Jalhay and Monschau were now under control, said Belgium’s interior minister, Bernard Quintin, after visiting the crisis centre in Vottem on Sunday afternoon.

“On this third day of fighting the fires, all resources remain mobilised on the ground,” he wrote on X, and thanked all those involved. “We can also count on the solidarity of our European partners … Thank you to everyone who mobilised to fight the fires. United, we are stronger.”

The fire, described by officials as the largest in Belgium’s modern history, began in an area that was ravaged by massive wildfires in 1911 during a drought.

Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather around the world, driving more frequent and deadlier disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.

Much of Europe is experiencing a new period of intense heat, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks.