\n<\/p>\n
Gregory Melotte, one of those working to extinguish the blaze, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF: “We managed to calm the fire coming from the plain, to prevent it from spreading into the fir forest. We still succeeded in our mission, but it’s not over yet.<\/p>\n
“The flames are coming towards us, the wind has shifted twice, once in our favour, once against us.”<\/p>\n
The country activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to trigger reinforcements from other countries.<\/p>\n
European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said two Swedish water-bombing aircraft and two helicopters, one from the Czech Republic and one from the Netherlands, were on their way.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, local officials said 650 residents evacuated their homes as a wildfire burned in Landes, south-western France. <\/p>\n
The fire began on Thursday and, according to authorities, reignited on Saturday – with more than 500 firefighters deployed to tackle the blaze.<\/p>\n
Forest fires have also been reported in Croatia, Spain and Serbia since Friday, after a summer of extreme heat which has seen swathes of land across Europe either going up in flames or scorched brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n The EU’s climate monitoring service, Copernicus, has confirmed that western Europe experienced its hottest June-to-July period on record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n