Today's Edition
HURTGENWALD, GERMANY (AFP)
Around 1,800 people had to flee their homes in western Germany after a wildfire spread nearby, officials said Friday, with helicopters and army equipment deployed to help battle the flames.
A district of the town of Huertgenwald near the Belgian and Dutch borders was evacuated overnight after the fire expanded from 25 hectares to 300 hectares.
The flames were now only around 10 meters from the closest houses in Huertgenwald, a town of about 9,000 people, according to the Bild newspaper website.
Fire brigade spokesman Peter Berndgen told the daily that conditions were "very unfavourable for fighting forest fires" with dry air, wind, and high temperatures.
He estimated that the operation could last several more days.
Explosions were heard overnight as the fire set off wartime munitions which hampered the fight against the blaze in the hilly Eifel region of North Rhine-Westphalia state.
Residents of the town were urged to "take only the most important personal items" with them as the fire drew nearer, with temporary shelters set up in a nearby school and a sports centre, officials said.
Around 300 emergency services personnel were deployed in an operation backed by helicopters and army tracked vehicles as emergency crews cut firebreaks through the woods.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz thanked all the emergency workers "for their tireless efforts" in a post on X, adding that he was being "kept constantly informed of the situation."
Further Fires, Parching Heat
Emergency services were also in action overnight fighting another wildfire further east near the Moehnesee lake, also in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Around 100 emergency service workers managed to contain that fire, despite dangerous conditions and difficult topography.
The EU's global warming monitor has said that Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July on record as climate change fuels an historic summer of heat, drought and wildfires.
The heatwave in late June saw Germany break its temperature record for three days in a row, hitting 41.7C.
Temperatures of up to 39C are expected in western Germany on Friday, with the current heatwave set to last into the weekend.
Meteorologist Ozden Terli warned that would mean "more moisture evaporating and the land drying out further."
Even if rain does fall soon, in many parts of Germany "the soil is dried solid, so not much moisture will be able to trickle in at first," Terli told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
"We need a period of sustained rain, which is not in sight."
