Firefighters pushing to 'definitively encircle' east Belgium wildfire, authorities say

Europe has been swept by weeks of devastating wildfires fuelled by dry conditions and a historically hot summer, with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain also battling major fires. Firefighters in Belgium were making a potentially decisive push on Tuesday to encircle the massive wildfire burning in the High Fens nature reserve, despite unfavourable weather hampering air support operations, authorities said. "We are trying to definitively encircle the fire today," regional government spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux told the AFP news agency, saying all focus was on "reinforcing our eastern defences" with the arrival of "sustained winds" blowing towards the German border a stone's throw away. Monday saw firefighters and farmers backed by water-dropping aircraft battle through a fourth day to bring Belgium's worst wildfire in a century under control. The blaze charring the High Fens nature reserve, a vast expanse of boggy peatlands, pine forests and hiking trails, has grown since Friday to 3,000 hectares, half the size of Manhattan. Crisis cell spokesperson Tony Hosmans said the fire was "had not spread further but we cannot yet say it is contained." "It could change according to the weather," he warned. Europe has been swept by weeks of devastating wildfires fuelled by dry conditions and a historically hot summer, with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain also battling major fires. Hosmans confirmed the High Fens blaze was no longer advancing towards the German border after creeping nearer over the weekend, prompting a partial evacuation order in the town of Monschau. Much-needed rain delivered some respite to the 500 firefighters and emergency crews mobilised on site on Monday, but officials said conditions could shift fast. Philipp Krueger, firefighting chief in Monschau, told reporters crews were preparing to deal with "strong winds" on Tuesday, warning it was a challenging "new situation." Largest since 1911 The High Fens blaze broke out in an area that was ravaged by massive fires in 1911, during a similar period of heatwaves and drought. It is the country's largest wildfire since and Belgium's King Philippe visited the fire zone on Monday in a show of support for the Herculean effort to contain it. A huge area at the border has been blanketed by a thick plume of yellowish smoke, with fumes detected as far as eastern France, where authorities issued an air-pollution alert. The smoke hazard also triggered the evacuation of two Belgian villages, whose residents were still under instruction to stay away.