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.

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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.

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