Wildfire at military training ground near 't Harde under control after two days

Authorities declared a large wildfire at a military training ground near 't Harde under control Saturday morning, roughly two days after it started, while the separate fire between Weert and Budel remains under control, has been scaled down, and is now being handled with fewer firefighting units, officials said.

The safety region for northern and eastern Gelderland issued the all-clear signal shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The Defense fire brigade had taken over extinguishing efforts after midnight from civilian crews.

A spokesman said there is still "very much heat" in the ground. It is unclear how long it will take to fully extinguish the blaze. Because of weather conditions and wind, officials cannot completely rule out the fire flaring up again, in which case the response would be scaled up. Some stench nuisance is expected in the area for some time.

The fire near 't Harde broke out Thursday afternoon at the military exercise ground near the Geuzendijk. A military exercise was taking place simultaneously, though it is not known if that caused the blaze. The military police are investigating the cause.

Defense will not halt exercises in dry nature areas for now but is taking measures to prevent new wildfires.

The emergency order around 't Harde has been lifted, so people can re-enter the area and sports or other activities can resume Saturday.

Separately, the nature fire between Weert and Budel broke out Thursday afternoon and has been under control since Thursday evening. It has now been scaled down, the safety region reported. Firefighters remain on scene but with fewer units and can still intervene if needed. The emergency order in that area has also been lifted, allowing people to pass through again and (sports) activities to take place Saturday in the surroundings.

A spokesman for the safety region for southeastern Noord-Brabant said Saturday morning that too many hotspots remained in hard-to-access forest terrain. "We first want to be able to extinguish those more before we give the all-clear signal," he said. He does not expect the fire to flare up further.

The fires are part of multiple large and smaller wildfires that broke out across the Netherlands in the past week, including at Oirschot in Brabant, a large blaze at Kootwijk in Gelderland on Friday and a new fire Saturday between the A1 highway and the railway line near Kootwijk, which has also been declared under control.