Belgium wildfire forces partial evacuation order in German border town
BERLIN — A German town close to Belgium on Sunday ordered some of its residents to evacuate as the worst wildfire in modern Belgian history raged just over the border.
According to a statement from the mayor’s office in Monschau, a town with 12,000 residents, two streets were being evacuated as a result of the fire and smoke, along with the weather conditions.
The authorities had earlier recommended that “residents of areas close to the border leave these zones”, warning that the blaze’s front lay 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) from the Germany-Belgium border and just 1.8 kilometers from the nearest inhabited area.
READ: France, England battle multiple wildfires as record heat grips Europe
The Belgian authorities have already ordered the evacuation of the settlement of Kuechelscheid, a 10-minute drive from Monschau.
Some 1,800 people were evacuated in western Germany overnight Thursday to Friday as a result of a wildfire, one of many to rage across a tinder-dry and drought-hit Europe this summer. /dl
