00:00DW correspondent Rosie Bierschot joins me now from the wildfire area near the Belgium-Germany border.
00:07Rosie, tell us where you are, what you're seeing and hearing there.
00:13We're just a few minutes' drive from the Belgian border here, and you can see behind me,
00:18we've had plenty of volunteers coming in to bring water to firefighters,
00:23and then you'll see over there, that is a firefighting mission.
00:26You might see it just in the distance.
00:27There's plenty of smoke around us.
00:29You can see we're wearing our masks here.
00:31The air is really thick with the smell of smoke,
00:35and this was a fire that has been described as just one of the most destructive in Belgium's history,
00:42and there was a kind of convalescence of different factors that made this fire more likely.
00:49We had very high temperatures just going into the weekend there.
00:53Humidity had also dropped, and then winds picked up,
00:57and all of that made for perfect conditions for fire to spread.
01:01And this is a kind of nature reserve park where there's a lot of heathland and also peat bogs,
01:07and that made firefighting efforts even more complicated.
01:12This, I understand, is the biggest wildfire that Belgium has ever recorded.
01:16Are firefighters there getting any closer to getting it under control,
01:21or is it possible that it could spread further?
01:28Both of those things are true.
01:30They are closer to getting it under control, especially the areas that they're able to access by land.
01:35We've seen plenty of firefighting teams on the ground here,
01:41and they have been able to contain the fire more than at least over the weekend,
01:46but there are some areas which remain inaccessible,
01:48and they require more aerial firefighting support.
01:52And for that, that means that the fire could still spread further.
01:56We've seen some firefighting planes sent from nearby countries to try and beef up this mission.
02:01The other thing which is really working in firefighters' favour is that we've seen a really big drop in temperatures,
02:07just from sort of one day to the next, a drop of about 10 degrees Celsius,
02:11and humidity has also increased.
02:13And that means that for their firefighting efforts on the ground here,
02:17the conditions, they say, are more favourable to containing this fire.
02:21However, the winds are very unpredictable.
02:24They are changing direction, and that means firefighters are kind of having to play catch-up
02:28and going to different areas, including this one.
02:30We're just beyond me.
02:32They're really, I mean, we can feel the smoke picking up around us now.
02:35There are fires which they're trying to contain even further.
02:41Now, fires are burning in many parts of Europe, Rosie, as you know, in Greece, Spain, France, Croatia.
02:48Other European countries have been helping fight the blazes,
02:52sending personnel and equipment as they have there, as you mentioned.
02:56Is this cross-border support making a difference?
03:03It is absolutely making a difference.
03:06The Belgians have expressed thanks for and solidarity with German firefighters who came from across the border,
03:11but also firefighting planes that were sent from the Netherlands.
03:15We've also had some support sent in from Sweden.
03:17So it is absolutely making a difference.
03:19But of course, Terry, the real concern for the future is when you have so many countries facing so many
03:25fires,
03:26if they all need help at the same time, well, that solidarity is going to be very stretched.
03:30And of course, scientists are telling us that with more extreme heat, that wildfires are becoming more frequent and more
03:36likely.
03:36So that is a really big concern for the future, that while solidarity has been in action and has been
03:42working,
03:42what's it going to look like in the future and do more dispositions need to be put in place
03:47to make sure that Europe is ready for even hotter summers and even more wildfires.
03:53Rosie, thank you very much.
03:54That was our correspondent, Rosie Birchardt, there at the, not far from the German-Belgian border.
04:00Thank you very much.
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