The German authorities ordered on Sunday night to partially evacuate the town of Monschau, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, bordering Belgium, due to the large fire declared in the Haute Fagnes nature reserve – the High Fens – which has already consumed more than 3,000 hectares.
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“Due to the ongoing fire and the spread of smoke, and taking into account the weather forecasts, the emergency management team of the city of Monschau ordered the immediate evacuation of Ruitzhof and Geisberg streets,” announced the city council.
The statement from the German town was issued hours after indicating that there were no signs leading to ordering evacuations.
The council urged residents of the mentioned streets to “leave the area on their own.”
Additionally, a shelter was set up at the Simmerath Institute, at number 40 Walter Bachmann Street.
“This shelter has emergency personnel”, the statement adds, which also specified that the fire’s development will be evaluated “continuously.”
The measure affected, according to the German news agency DPA, at least 17 homes and up to 30 people who were affected by the fire.
Regarding the fire extinguishing efforts, the Monschau government team stated that they have the support of emergency personnel from the Aachen Fire Department, a German town also bordering Belgium, as well as from the Metropolitan Region Firefighters.
The fire declared in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve has become the second largest ever recorded in the country, having ravaged more than 3,000 hectares.
In fact, it is increasingly close to the devastating 1911 fire, also in the same area, known as “Dante’s Inferno”, which burned nearly 4,000 hectares.
