'T Harde wildfire partly under control, but not smaller; New blaze near Kessel campsite
The massive fire on a military training site in ‘t Harde is partly under control, the local security region reported on Wednesday night. The fire brigade doesn’t expect it to spread further and has scaled down the situation to Grip 1. The NL-Alert has also been partly revoked. A new wildfire broke out near a campsite in Kessel, Limburg, overnight. Emergency services are still battling to get it under control.
On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the Veiligheidsregio Noord- en Oost Gelderland told ANP that the wildfire “unfortunately did not get smaller” overnight. “Overnight, the fire brigade was busy containing and monitoring the fire. The coming hours are crucial. The wind is picking up, which means more smoke and odor nuisance is possible again.” An NL-Alert is still in effect for Nunspeet and the surrounding area.
The fire at the Artillery Shooting Range (ASK) near ‘t Harde broke out late Wednesday morning. The cause is still unclear. Military training was underway when the fire started, and the ASK is the only location in the Netherlands where soldiers can practice firing artillery and mortars.
Due to the drought, the fire spread very quickly, covering an area of 500 hectares - about half the size of the Amsterdamse Bos. After hours of work, including deployment of Chinook military helicopters to drop massive amounts of water on the fire, the fire department managed to get the blaze partially under control, Veiligheidsregio Noord- en Oost Gelderland reported just after 11:00 p.m.
The fire brigade expected that the fire would not spread further, but remained “present at full strength” overnight because the ground and vegetation were still hot, and there may be smoldering remains.
Kessel fire
A new wildfire broke out in Kessel, near the De Heldense Bossen campsite, late Wednesday night, Veiligheidsregio Limburg Noord reported. The emergency services quickly labeled the blaze a “very large fire” and scaled up to Grip 1, in which all the emergency services at the scene report to a single commander. The fire is covering a “very large area” near the campsite and is spreading via the trees and ground, the security region said.
At 4:55 a.m., the Veiligheidsregio reported that the fire had spread to cover about 30,000 square meters and was releasing a lot of smoke. The fire brigade is taking measurements, and the smoke does not yet pose a risk to public health, though campsite visitors and locals in the town of Helden are urged to close windows and doors, turn off ventilation, and stay out of the smoke.
“The firefighting operations are still in full swing,” the Veiligheidsregio said at 6:22 a.m. “A firefighting helicopter will be deployed during the course of the morning. This may cause noise in the southeast of the municipality of Peel en Maas.”
The Veiligheidsregio urged locals and campsite visitors to stay out of the forest on the east side of the campsite. The access roads to the firefighting area have been closed off.
