The Monschau city authorities’ statement says that the fire front is currently just 1.5 kilometers from the German and Belgian border and only 1.8 kilometers from the nearest inhabited area.
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Although it is currently believed that the flames will not reach German territory, a “high level of air pollution due to smoke” is expected, the statement says.
“Therefore, it was decided to recommend residents of areas near the border to leave these zones,” the municipality, which has 12,000 inhabitants, noted.
Belgian authorities have already ordered the evacuation of the Kuechelscheid settlement, which can be reached from Monschau by car in 10 minutes.
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Belgian officials earlier on Sunday reported that the forest fire raging in a nature reserve in the east of the country – the largest in the country’s recent history – more than doubled in size within a day and covered about 3,000 hectares.
According to officials, on Friday, when the fire broke out for still unknown reasons, 80 hectares burned, by Saturday morning the affected area had grown to 850 hectares, and by Sunday morning the fire had already spread to 3,000 hectares.
The fire started after weeks of unusually hot and dry weather. The mixture of high Fens heathland and peatlands complicates efforts to control the flames.
