Massive fire burns Belgium’s High Fens nature reserve

Firefighters battled a massive wildfire in eastern Belgium on Sunday that has burned about 30 square kilometres in the High Fens, a large nature reserve, in one of the country's worst wildfires in recent history.

About 600 residents in the nearby municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province near the German border, were told to evacuate Saturday as winds shifted and smoke spread through the area.

More than 250 emergency personnel have been deployed, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, as well as police and military officers and civil protection staff.

Firefighting helicopters operated by Belgium's federal police and the Netherlands also helped.