2023-05-30 15:58:00
A hundred German and German-speaking firefighters, as well as the civil protection of Crisnée, are still mobilized this Tuesday to fight against the fire which broke out yesterday in the Hautes Fagnes, on the Belgian-German border. “We were called Monday at 5:30 p.m. for a small fire in the Fens. When we arrived on site, we found that it was 300 or even 400 m and that it tended to spread. It’s a ground fire, it moves relatively fast with all the brush. In collaboration with the DNF, we took the decision to circumscribe and make stopping points all around the area, knowing that it was getting late and that we would no longer have the opportunity to bring the helicopter»reported Francis Cloth, commander of the 6DG zone (German-speaking community).
Less manpower was required compared to the 140 firemen in intervention at night, the Vesdre-Hoëgne & Plateau area had also sent two tanks on Monday. In fact, the flames were difficult to reach, and it was thanks to the federal police helicopter, which went into action in the morning, that the firefighters tried to put out the fire. “The fire lost power last night. We have even reduced our tank capacity, we have a water capacity of up to 60,000 liters per hour! What firefighters need now is that the helicopter can work properly!”
About 170 hectares have gone up in smoke at the moment, the damage is well limited for René Dhamen from the Elsenborn cantonment of the DNF: “Unlike the 2011 fire, where we had to intervene to prevent the fire from going to active raised bogs and where the ground was dry. Here, the subsoil is wet and the most valuable habitats in this area are soaked. It is really the superficial vegetation that burns. It’s obviously a bad period since there are birds nesting now, but the objective was to limit it to these 200 ha and it worked very well!
This does not detract from the sad observation made once again: human negligence can have serious consequences.
A small fire that seems extinguished can quickly resume with the sun and the wind
The emergency services and the DNF once again call for caution: camping illegally is dangerous.
For René Dahmen, from the Nature and Forest Department, the origin of the fire is human: “There are generally two origins for a fire in the Fagnes. The storm with the lightning, and that, we did not have yesterday… and the rest, it is human imprudence! The fire broke out near a busy walking path…” It is not uncommon for officers to find traces of wild camping, with small fires. “They put small stones around thinking it’s secure. Then in the morning, they leave and a few hours later with the sun and the wind this small fire which seemed extinguished starts again in activity. It’s really dangerous, people don’t realize it.”
This Tuesday, the Fagne between Ternell and Mützenich is thus prohibited from access: the red flags are hoisted to warn the walkers. And even if a large part of the fagnard paths are still accessible, the city of Eupen asked all hikers and walkers to largely avoid the area “so as not to unnecessarily interfere with extinguishing operations and not endanger themselves!”
1000 liters of water every 3 minutes
The intervention of a helicopter is valuable to support the intervention of firefighters in areas that are difficult to access. Two firefighters were injured and suffered minor sprains “just to have had to move over complicated terrain.”
But it was therefore necessary to wait for it to be daylight and for a basin to be set up nearby by civil protection to be able to use it. “There is a preparation time to bring in the helicopter. We had hoped at first that it could take on water at the Eupen dam, but the flight time was too long to be able to use it properly. So civil protection has set up a basin and it must be filled as you go”explained the fire commander.
Here again, the question of water is crucial: the helicopter has a capacity of 1000 liters and it does its turnover in just 3 minutes! This gives an idea of the quantities needed throughout the day.
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