EU sends aircraft as Belgium fights record wildfire

BRUSSELS, Aug 15: The European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft to tackle a wildfire raging in eastern Belgium on Saturday, the bloc's crisis commissioner said, after Belgium requested emergency reinforcements to control its biggest blaze in decades.

The wildfire in the High Fens, Belgium's largest nature reserve, has been burning since Friday, with local firefighters, farmers and the army deployed to battle the blaze.

By early Saturday afternoon, it had burned 1,600 hectares, local media reported, citing statistics from the governor of Liege, the local province.�" REUTERS