Increased risk of fire in Belgian heathland

The state of alert in the nature and heathland areas of Antwerp and Limburg provinces was raised to orange at the weekend because of the increased risk of fire due to the continued dry weather. Areas affected included the Kalmthout heathland in Antwerp and the Mechelse heath near Maasmechelen in Limburg, where lookout towers were staffed during the daylight hours.

The Nature and Woodland agency called on the public to be extra vigilant, including refraining from smoking and not letting children play unsupervised in the affected areas.

The Kalmthout heath was severely damaged in May of 2011 when fire led to the destruction of 600 hectares of heathland in what was described as the worst ecological disaster ever in Flanders. The heath stretches across the Dutch border, and experts said it was unlikely ever to fully recover. At the time of the fire, the heath was still suffering the after-effects of a much smaller fire in 1996.

In Tervuren, just outside Brussels, fire destroyed two to three hectares of brush in the area of the Vierarmen junction. The fire spread along Tervurenlaan, but no-one was injured, according to the Brussels fire service, which tackled the fire with equipment designed specifically for forest fires.

photo courtesy Cosavostra/Wikimedia Commons