Major wildfire near ’t Harde remains out of control; Roads closed, air traffic diverted

A major wildfire at the Artillery Shooting Range (ASK) near ’t Harde remains out of control, according to a spokesperson for the regional safety authority. Fire crews are continuing efforts to bring the fire under control, and officials expect operations to last “at least through the night.” The smoke has now spread as far as England. Satellite imagery shows the plume passing over Norwich, and by around 5:00 p.m. it was clearly visible off the English coastline.

A strip of around 2,200 metres wide is on fire, the spokesperson said. Its spread has been influenced in part by wind conditions. The blaze remains limited to the military training ground and has not reached surrounding areas. Smoke levels are reportedly decreasing, and no nearby campsites or residential properties have needed to be evacuated so far.

Part of the A28 has been closed following the wildfire. According to the ANWB, the motorway between Harderwijk and Wezep is closed in both directions. The N309 and N795 towards Epe have also been shut as a result of the fire that started on Wednesday afternoon.

“The fire near the A28 is not yet under control. The road will remain closed for the entire evening, at least,” said Dutch infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat at 5:20 p.m. With the A28 closed in both directions, drivers were advised to use a combination of the A1 and the A50 as a detour route.

Firefighters are deployed with several units, involving almost 400 personnel in total. Five air force helicopters are now also being used. The Defense Helicopter Command (DHC) announced on X that an additional Chinook and a Cougar have been deployed to the Veluwe area. The aircraft are two different types of military transport helicopters.

The helicopters use Bambi Buckets to scoop up water from nearby sources and release it over the fire zones. A spray attachment, resembling a shower head fitted beneath the bucket, allows the water to be dispersed over a wider area in a single drop. The largest version of the Bambi Bucket is used by the heavy Chinook helicopters, allowing them to transport up to 7,600 litres of water at a time.

The exact cause of the fire has not yet been established. What is clear is that it broke out during a military exercise, and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has launched an investigation.

Flights to and from Schiphol are experiencing only limited disruption from the wildfire. A spokesperson for Air Traffic Control the Netherlands said aircraft are being briefly diverted around areas of heavy smoke, but are expected to return to their standard routes shortly.

“The impact on air traffic is minimal,” the spokesperson said. She also said that, due to the smoke, no alternative runways at Schiphol need to be used.

A wildfire also occurred in a forested area near Den Ham in Overijssel on Wednesday. Fire Service Twente said it was contained by around 5:45 p.m. The blaze affected roughly 500 by 500 metres of a nature area near Bosweg, described by a spokesperson as “heathland enclosed by forest.” Authorities have since declared the fire extinguished, and no injuries were reported.