The European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft on Saturday to tackle a record wildfire in eastern Belgium. The deployment followed a request for emergency reinforcements to help control the blaze, which has been described as the largest in the country's recent history.
The fire has devastated the High Fens natural park, leading local authorities to order hundreds of residents in some villages to evacuate their homes. The blaze was characterized as one of the worst in the country's history.
By Saturday afternoon, the fire had scorched at least 16 square kilometers. While reports from early Saturday afternoon indicated 1,600 hectares had burned, later figures showed that more than 2,700 hectares were scorched, making it the biggest fire on record for Belgium.