Belgium Requests EU Wildfire Assistance for First Time

Belgium activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism — a shared emergency-response system — for the first time as a record wildfire consumed 1,600 hectares of the High Fens nature reserve. Swedish water-bombing aircraft and helicopters from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands were deployed. The raised peat bog, not historically a fire-risk zone, has burned since Friday, fought by firefighters, farmers, and the army.